Bring Me Home
by mdiggory
Summary: Santana learns what it means to love and lose and fight for her hearts desire once more. A Santana/Rachel friendship fic with a side Santana/Brittany and Rachel/Quinn romance. The Faberry was taking over so I'm cross-posting.
1. Chapter 1

**Bring Me Home**

Disclaimer: Characters are the property of Fox and Ryan Murphy

A/N: I know I said I didn't have time to follow through on the prompt that I came up with but last night the idea wouldn't leave me alone. Chapter one is kinda short and it basically just sets up the premise, it's not the intro that I originally had but it's what came out. Enjoy!

**Chapter 1: How A Broken Heart Feels**

Santana never expected life without Brittany to be this difficult. It's been at least five weeks since she moved to New York to attend Columbia University, leaving the other half of her soul back in Lima, Ohio and with each passing hour Santana intensely feels the cheerful blonds absence. She had tried to prepare herself for this separation for years, knowing that her parents wanted her to attend an Ivy League school and also knowing Brittany's scholastic limitations. Santana had somehow convinced herself that Brittany didn't need to go to a traditional college, she could study dance at some arts academy just as long as they both left Lima together, she didn't care.

By the beginning of their Senior year Santana had their futures mapped out, she chose New York because that city was the optimum place to launch any career. So one day she lured Brittany to the library to discuss her plans only to find that Brittany had a much more pressing matter to discuss.

"How come we never go out?"

The question throws Santana off for a moment, she's had years to adjust to her best friends idiosyncrasies and rather random thoughts but this question was very pointed, accompanied by a grim look that didn't seem to fit with Brittany's usual happy appearance.

"We go out all the time Britt."

"No," the blond shakes her head "we _hang_ out but we never _go_ out, like on a date. We never get dressed up for each other and go on a real date to the movies where we make out during the previews. You don't even invite me over to your house unless your parents aren't home and if they come back early you push me out the back door."

Santana winces a bit, but in her defense she had panicked a little, not expecting her mother to be back from grocery shopping so soon and she did at least give Brittany a chance to put her shirt on before shoving her out the door. When her mother walked into the house to see Santana looking flushed and disheveled she proceeded to give her a thirty minute lecture about what happens when good girls sneak around with boys, citing Quinn Fabray as a textbook example. There was no way she could tell her mother that an unexpected pregnancy was _one_ thing she wouldn't have to worry about in her relationship.

"You know how things are between us Britt, we both agreed that…"

"No San!" Brittany nearly shouts, shaking her head more furiously and gaining the nosy old decrepit librarian's attention. "You were the one that said 'sex isn't dating' but it _is_, so if you want sex then we need to date, in the open."

Brittany rarely demanded anything, she was the single most happy go lucky person on the planet, so for her to all of a sudden put a stipulation on their relationship, caused a warning flag to go up. Santana narrowed her eyes at the blond, whose bottom lip formed a perfect pout as she crossed her arms awaiting her answer.

"Alright what's up with you?" Santana questions, "have you been talking to people about us?"

"No, I haven't told anybody about us," Santana breathes a sigh of relief, that is until Brittany finishes her statement, "yet."

The word hangs in the air for a moment and Santana pushes back the icy cold wave of fear that is threatening to crash over her. Brittany wants to go public with their relationship in a town full of small minded bigots that ostracize anyone who doesn't conform to their ideas. She wants Santana to stop hiding in the closet and tell her uber-Catholic parents that she is in love with another girl. This conversation isn't new, there have been variations on the same problems ever since they began this relationship midway through freshman year, but unlike every other time that Brittany has brought it up, Santana won't be able to distract her with smoldering kisses and promises to deal with it all later.

Well it seems as though later has finally arrived and Santana is no closer to the answer Brittany wants to hear than she was three years ago.

"I'm going to tell my parents B, just as soon as school is over and we head off to college, we can make a fresh start somewhere far from here…" she gathers the performing arts school brochures that she spent hours pouring over in her hands, shuffling through the colorful papers in an attempt to sway Brittany's attention.

"I can't wait that long, S." a quiet sob escapes from her mouth and she looks at Santana with the saddest expression.

"Can't or won't?"

"Someone asked me to the Spring Formal today and the first thing I said was that I had to ask you what we were doing and then they said 'why do you always have to ask Santana before you do something?'. And I couldn't tell them the truth, that I wanted to go to the Formal with you but you haven't asked me. So how about it San, will you go to the Formal with me?"

There is the most earnest gleam in her bright blue eyes that Santana just wants to wrap her arms around the other girl and give her anything she wants. But that's not likely to happen, and it breaks her heart that things have to be this way right now.

"Brit, I I can't." She swallows the lump forming in her throat, reaches over to grasp Brittany's soft hands and give a reassuring squeeze but it seems like Brittany has finally had her fill. She pulls her hands away from Santana, already knowing the answer but compelled to give her pseudo-girlfriend one last chance.

"Can't S, or won't?"

Santana balls her hands into fists, squeezes her eyes shut so she doesn't have to see the love of her life walk away from her so dejectedly. Brittany heaves a tired sigh as she climbs to her feet, presses a soft kiss to Santana's forehead and walks out of the library. Santana stays glued to her seat, her chest contracts painfully and she has an urge to empty her stomach all over the carpet in front of her. A lone tear makes it past her tightly shut eyes, her hand reaches out to blindly sweep the now useless brochures off of the table.

She internally slaps herself, wiping her face with jerky movements and yanks her bookbag off of the chair beside her. With her head held high, Santana marches out of the school's library to face the world alone for the first time since she met the beautiful blond ball of sunshine in Kindergarden.

It isn't until three weeks later, at the Spring Formal dance as she watches Brittany happily being twirled around the dance floor in Mike Chang's arms, that Santana truly knows how a broken heart feels.


	2. Chapter 2

**Bring Me Home**

Disclaimer: Characters are the property of Fox and Ryan Murphy

A/N: Alright, so this was suppose to be a fluffy Santana/Rachel friendship fic but after a couple of paragraphs it became obvious to me that Santana doesn't do fluff, or at least I don't do fluff, but I will promise a happy ending for everyone who was worried about the Santana/Brittany element. So the pairings are Pezberry friendship, Brittany/Quinn friendship, Santana/Brittany romance and a Quinn/Rachel romance. It's moving pretty slow but I will get them together.

**Chapter 2: The Concrete Jungle**

**November 2011, Senior Year**

In her longstanding quest to hone her craft, Rachel landed the lead in a community theater production of _Fiddler On The Roof_, her performance was flawless as usual. She invited the entire Glee Club to opening night and Quinn was shocked that only Puck, Brittany, Mike and herself showed up. Quinn remembers sitting in the theater, avidly watching the doors, waiting for the rest of their fellow Gleeks to arrive in support of the girl who's talent time and again, helped them win competitions. An unfamiliar surge of anger and resentment on Rachel's behalf rushed through her chest as the ushers finally shut the doors and the house lights were dimmed. As much as everyone in Glee spoke of friendship and camaraderie, it never fails that Rachel is always left off of the list.

Brittany is here because she Brittany, sweet, lovable and because she thought everyone else was coming as well. Mike's been attached to Brittany's hip ever since she broke things off with Santana, so Quinn can't really say that he's here for Rachel. But Puck is, shocking beyond belief. She spotted Puck sitting in the front row next to Rachel's excessively proud parents. They gave each other a weird look, the _'what the Hell are you doing here' _type. Turns out Puck is a big old softy when it comes to Rachel Berry and the girl can pretty much talk him into anything, hence volunteeringly watching a musical and making pleasant conversation with her fathers.

"Isn't it customary to give the star a dozen red roses?" Quinn questions the boy, gesturing to the dozen peach roses resting on his lap.

"Berry likes peach roses better." Puck shrugs nonchalantly, as if it's not strange at all that he knows Rachel's flower preference. She looks down at her hands, one gripping her purse and the other lying empty in her lap, wondering why she didn't have the foresight to pick up a congratulatory bouquet.

Quinn eyes him for a moment in the dim light, it's a little hard to see but it is there, Puck isn't the same insensitive jerk playing grabass with anything in a short skirt. Fatherhood has forced him to grow up and take stock of what's really important in life. And if Puck can be an adult, Quinn starts to think there may be hope for her yet.

* * *

Quinn came to a decision that night, to make sure Rachel knew that she had someone in her corner. She would limit herself to calling Rachel mean names to at least once per week, that seems reasonable enough, going cold turkey was likely to cause an aneurysm in her brain to rupture because sometimes Rachel was just so annoying that you had to say something to shut her up.

It wasn't as hard as she assumed it would be. Being nicer to Rachel Berry initially went against every instinct in Quinn's body but once she managed to curb her knee-jerk reactions of rolling her eyes dismissively when Rachel raised her hand in class before the teacher finished posing the question or chewing back a scathing retort whenever the brunette listed her accomplishments and gave a detailed summary of why she should be awarded the lead. Quinn found that she rather liked being nice to Rachel.

What did surprise Quinn was that Rachel held her at arms length. Mildly suspicious of her tormentor's sudden turnaround Rachel was coolly cordial to Quinn's offer of friendship, this puzzled Quinn to the point of distraction. True she wasn't as popular as she had been before the baby drama but Quinn Fabray was still eight steps up the ladder from where Rachel sat, so it's not like socializing with an unwed teenage mother was killing Rachel's cool points. Getting fed up with Rachel's polite brush-offs, Quinn confronted the girl after Glee practice.

"What's your problem, RuPa…I mean Rachel?!"

"I'm certain you can come up with a myriad list of things about me that you find lacking, Quinn." Rachel sighs, not making eye contact as she carefully places her sheet music into her folio case.

"I wasn't trying to insult you." Rachel gives her a dubious look, "Really, I just wanted to know why you…why don't you…" frustrated beyond belief, Quinn is grateful that they're alone in the choir room so no one will witness this pathetic display of inarticulacy. Crossing her arms over chest, she gnashes her teeth together and all but growls at the shorter girl, "Be my friend!"

It's sorta pathetic that this is what it's come down to, demanding that someone befriend her, like a weird and aggressive version of those internet social websites.

Rachel stares at her owlishly, she soon realizes that her mouth is hanging open and snaps it firmly shut. "Why?" she asks, drawing out the word guardedly.

"Because." Quinn answers as if that one word explains why she wants to befriend the girl she use to humiliate on a daily bases.

Rachel looks as though she wants to contest Quinn's reasoning but instead just gives the blond a lopsided grin and nods her head. "If you insist."

"Good," Quinn nods, now what? "Alright then, do you need a ride home?"

"No, I have my dad's jeep but thank you for the concern."

"It was just a ride Berry, I wasn't offering you a kidney." she can't resist rolling her eyes, bemused.

"My apologies, I'm new to the proper etiquette of friendship. I don't have many…friends that is."

"Now you do."

* * *

New Directions placed 3rd at Nationals their Sophomore year but the Gleeks still weren't getting any respect at WMHS, nor were they getting many new members. So when a transfer student wanders into the practice room one gloomy afternoon, Mr. Shue perceived her arrival as a blessing in disguise. Charlotte is talented and sweet, a real team player who doesn't mind sharing the spotlight, virtues Mr. Shue repeatedly presses, though he doesn't name names, everyone knows he's referring to Rachel.

Despite the fact that Rachel has lead them to victories in both Sectionals and Regionals the past two years, Rachel has officially been dethroned as the female lead. Mr. Shue is almost giddy that he's crafted his new protégé Charlotte into a great lead vocalist. Quinn on the other hand is disgusted by Artie, Tina, Kurt and Mercedee's lack of loyalty. Brittany and Finn try to make the best of the situation, even if Finn doesn't share the same chemistry with Charlotte that he had with Rachel. Santana has been solemn since the break up and rarely does anything but sulk anymore. Puck looks as though he wants to smash Mr. Shue's face in for upsetting Rachel and Rachel…Rachel is heartbroken but she maintains a congenial façade as she graciously congratulates Charlotte before bowing out.

It should have been smooth sailing to a win at Nationals but the feud between New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline reached epic proportions just days before the final competition of the year. Charlotte, they learn was a ringer sent by the Vocal Adrenalin director, to create dissention within their ranks. Sue Sylvester finally exacted her revenge, this time not by cheating that would obviously lead back to her and cause her to lose her job indefinitely. All she had to do was sit back and watch as Mr. Shue dug his own grave, callously tossing aside his best performer in favor of another that didn't question him at every turn.

On the Friday before Nationals, Charlotte mysteriously came down with a case of laryngitis and was unable to perform. Tail planted firmly between his legs, Will Shuester personally knocked on the Berry household door to appeal to Rachel. To his utter dismay, he was told by her father Ira, that Rachel got a small part in an off-Broadway production and left for New York three days ago, where she would remain until classes at Julliard began in the fall.

In their Senior year they placed 14th at Nationals.

**October 2012**

The first lesson Santana learns after five weeks alone in New York, is that she's not as much of a badass as she liked to believe. She may have had a reputation for being intimidating in Lima, Ohio but New York City wasn't some hick town. People here had a thicker skin and it took more than a disgruntle glare to send someone scurrying off like a terror-stricken bunny. Insults sails right over the net and were spiked back in an crushing blow.

This city is loud, grimy and hostile. Her roommate made it clear from day one that she didn't intend to become Santana's friend, leaving the former Cheerio severely pissed at being snubbed then, feeling lonely and desponded. It's a foreign feeling, not being at the top of the social food chain, everyone else seems to be able to make a new friend, even that odd girl down the hall that wears too much dark eyeliner and smells like soup has managed to find another odd girl who wears too much black lipstick. Santana may have escaped Lima Loser status by leaving her small town but she is quickly becoming a New York Nobody.

No longer able to stand the stark emptiness of her dorm room, Santana goes out for a walk instantly getting lost, yet refuses to look like a tourist and ask for directions back to Columbia's campus, (cause really that's how most of the stories on Law & Order begin). A light drizzle begins to fall, so she wanders into a little coffee shop only to find Rachel Berry sitting smack in the middle of a large group of people. She hasn't seen Berry since the short brunette skipped town before the end of their Senior year of high school and though they managed to be civil towards one another through their mutual friendship with Quinn, they were hardly what one would refer to as a true friend.

For lack of anything better to do, Santana takes a minute to survey her surroundings, it's a typical bohemian café, the patrons she assumes must be students from Julliard because nearly everyone either has a textbook on Musical Theory, are dressed in easy movement dance gear or are cradling an instrument. A tall good looking guy with sandy blond hair, carelessly strums a guitar, gazing adoringly at Rachel as she happily belts out the lyrics to some sappy love song.

"Fuck my life." Santana groans.

Every eye in the vicinity is glued to Rachel and Santana marvels at what a commanding presences the balladeer possesses, she has the crowd eating out of her hand. It's ironic that Berry would fit right in with the artsy crowd while Santana is the one on the outside looking in and she feels a tiny stab of remorse for making Rachel feel this way since the third grade. She tries to slip out unnoticed but some rude jerk bumps into her, causing her to bump into someone else, sending a dish crashing to the floor. The loud clatter draws attention to the hapless Latina and Rachel's big brown eyes widen in surprise, she gives Santana the first welcoming smile she's seen since moving to the Concrete Jungle.

"Santana hi," She says in that annoyingly chipper voice, "I was wondering when I would bump into you. Everyone this is Santana, we went to high school together back in Ohio." Rachel explains to the group.

"Cool," perfect haircut smiles, sliding his chair over a bit to make room, "join us?"

Santana pauses, debating if she should rebuff the offer to join what is obviously the Rachel Berry fan club meeting but the only alternative is leaving and desperately trying to find her way back to her empty dorm. So she sits and twenty minutes later, Santana discovers that this was the best decision she has made in a very long time. The group is friendly and though they are all students at the prestigious Julliard School, music isn't the only thing they talk about.

Brittany was always nice enough to people for the both of them so Santana never felt inclined to be polite. But Brittany isn't here anymore, she bitterly reminds herself, and making pleasant conversation feels like the first time she tried a double backflip only to fall flat on her ass. It's painful but at least she's making an effort, Brittany would be so proud of her.

As the conversation continues, Santana listens to the others talk about being away from home for the first time in a big and often times scary city, she relaxes and even confesses that she got totally lost today. Rachel, who has been coming to New York to visit her grandmother since she was a child, knows the city pretty well and offers to give Santana directions back to her dorm.

Santana nods gratefully, taking a sip from her chi tea and gets lost in the comfort of finally finding a comfortable place in her new home.

On her mini tour of the city, Rachel apologized profusely for abandoning Glee after Charlotte's web of lies were exposed but Santana simply brushed it off.

"You weren't in the wrong, they treated you like shit, frankly I'm surprised you put up with it for as long as you did."

"Not everyone shares the same forgiving attitude as you, Santana. I received several emails from our former classmates stating that my leaving town right before our final competition was selfish and it cost us a win."

"The only people who think that are the ones who's opinion doesn't matter. You're probably the only one who's future depended upon being discovered on stage, but you got your break anyway, your going to Julliard, you were in a Broadway show."

"An _off-Broadway_ show," Rachel corrects the other girl. "so far off in fact that it may as well be in Scarsdale."

"Whatever. So what was the play about?" She finds herself asking, genuinely interested

"It was about a girl, the Queen Bee of the drama club who quits a school production of Rent because the small minded townspeople wanted to cut out a song. Naturally, her sudden departure causes an uproar, there's this big controvercy over censorship and in the end the show goes on intact and she nails the performance. It's a lot more interesting when you see it in person." Rachel explains, taking in the pensieve look on Santana's face.

"No it sounds good, I was just thinking that it was the perfect role for you. It sounds like something you would do and have done." the girl replies not unkindly.

Rachel smiles at her, taking her arm and tugging Santana quickly across the street. They make it back to her dorm in no time, even though this wasn't what she had planned for her future, Santana is grateful to at least have one friendly face in this city.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bring Me Home**

**Chapter 3: I'd Rather Be Blue Over You (Than Happy With Someone Else) **

Disclaimer: The characters are the property of Fox

If there was one thing that Quinn regretted most in life, it was how poorly she treated others. Maybe if she had been a little nicer to her peers they wouldn't have ratted her out with malicious glee when their parents asked for confirmation that the rumors circling the once prominent Fabray family were true. Not barely a week after Finn tossed her out of his home for lying about Puck's baby being his, did her situation go from typical high school drama to full-on town scandal.

The next thing Quinn knows she's sitting in Father Fitzpatrick's office across from her parents in an attempt to resolve their family dispute. There was yelling, damn could her father yell and in a church no less! But after many hours of tears, hurtful accusations and prayers, her father caved and agreed to let her move back home. Quinn's not fooling herself, she knows that the main reason she is allowed to move back home is because her parents don't want to be painted as the villains in this soap opera.

But as long as she and her daughter have a roof over their heads, Quinn is resigned to put up with her parents arctic attitude towards her. Her mother thaws a few degrees once the baby is born. Judy Fabray took one look at her beautiful granddaughter and decided that maybe the world won't end if they accept her daughter's child into their lives.

* * *

**Fall 2012 **

Santana looked so dreadfully sad waving to Quinn from the back of her parents car as they drove her to the airport. The two had spent the majority of the afternoon together before Mr. and Mrs. Lopez picked Santana up so she could make her 4 p.m. flight to New York. With the minivan turning the corner, effectively cutting yet another friend out of her life, Quinn felt the overwhelming urge to weep so she pulled out her phone and did the next best thing.

She wouldn't be alone, not as long as she had her beautiful two year old Sophia by her side but Santana had no one. Though she was popular in high school her status was more along the lines of a feared ruler rather than a more approachable friend, thus most people were happier to see her go. Without Brittany or herself, Santana really had no one who was willing to look pass the glare often marring Santana's lovely face to the fun, loyal girl she truly was. A quick text would solve at least one of the problems Quinn was sure Santana would face in a new environment without her _Brittany Shield_. Less than a minute later, Quinn laughs out loud at the response she received from Rachel.

"_Never fear, I will take Santana under my wing and show her what a marvelous city this is!"_

Quinn actually feels sorta bad for siccing Rachel Berry on Santana when she's this vulnerable but if anyone would be doggedly determined to drag the grouchy Latina out of her funk, Rachel was the prime choice.

* * *

It's weird how quickly they have fallen into a routine. Joining Glee in her sophomore year, Santana had taken one look at Rachel and decided for her social status and her own sanity, that she would keep her distance from the 'yet to be diagnosed lunatic'. But Rachel Berry is the type of person that grows on you, much like a wine that doesn't taste well until you pair it with the perfect meal. She's grateful everyday, for running into Rachel in that café and even more grateful that Rachel didn't harbor any ill will towards her for all of the abuse suffered at the Cheerio's hands. Re-entering her dorm that night Santana felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she had a vague idea whom she had to thank.

Begrudgingly, she takes out her cell and sends a two word text, "Thanks Q."

That first Thanksgiving Santana spent in NY, Rachel's dads flew out to visit and they all had dinner at her grandmother Tovah Berry's apartment in the Bronx. Rachel always told people that she didn't know which of her two gay dads was her biological father but after five minutes spent in Tovah Berry's company it's glaringly obvious to which of her fathers she's genetically linked. Tovah is a 65 year old version of Rachel, she's loud, often overbearing yet unwaveringly kind to the people she cares about. Plus Rachel has her nose.

In between the extra servings of food, because Tovah took one look at Santana and declared her too skinny, and the sudden outbursts into song, because as Tovah stated sometimes you just have to sing no matter what or where you are, Santana quickly felt at home in this huge city. Sundays were spent from brunch to dinner, playing canasta, singing Judy Garland classics and much to her objection, letting Tovah do their laundry because it was cheaper than the laundry room at the dorms and the dryer in Tovah's building would run without quarters.

In December, there was a huge snow storm and their flight back to Ohio was cancelled. Rachel and Santana spent Christmas Eve engaged in a massive snowball war with a couple of students from Pace, NYU and a few other surrounding schools that were also stranded in the city. When Santana finally made it home, her folks whisked her away to visit her cousin who just had a baby, before she was boarding a plane back to New York.

Spring Break found her hanging with Puck, Rachel and Rachel's roommate Aubrey du Pres that Santana was casually dating and they went to Aubrey's family's beach house in Cape Cod. That week they had a blast, bonfires on the beach, barbecues on the back deck overlooking an amazing view of the ocean. Puck was quite proud of himself for talking Rachel into a threesome with a gorgeous brunette with beautiful blue eyes and a killer rack. But his elation deflated as soon as the bedroom door closed and the two girls found each other more interesting than the handsome Fireman in training. Santana laughed for well over an hour the next morning as Puck grumbled over his bagel about Rachel cockblocking him. She laughs because she knows that the previous evening's plan of debauchery was really Puck's clever ruse to get Rachel to come to terms with her sexual preference. He seemed almost perversely proud of how well Rachel managed to satisfy their guest.

It would be a full school year before Santana had laid eyes on Brittany.

* * *

The first time it happens was an accident, that's Quinn's story and she's sticking to it. Kate from her Statistics class just had a very dramatic breakup with her boyfriend, so their normal Thursday night study group was transformed into an all out bitchfest about the perils of dating horny two-timing creeps. Four long island ice teas later, and Kate declares she's kicking men altogether and makes a plan to 'trol the girls locker room and pick up that hot redheaded Soccer player that always gives her a wink when they pass in the halls. From there each girl starts naming another girl that they would hypothetically switch teams for, Quinn nearly chokes on her drink when Lindsey announces her pick, the last person on earth Quinn would have thought her fellow former WMHS cheerleader would even notice.

"You actually know her Quinn, Rachel Berry."

"Rachel?!" Quinn sputters

"Maybe you can't see it because you guys were friends but Jesus she's hot! Those legs, that shiny brown hair and those lips that make you wanna suck on them for days! We had P.E. together junior year and did you know she has a tattoo, right here," Lindsey gushes, pointing to her inner thigh, extremely close to her crotch. Quinn growls deep in her throat, first wondering how Lindsey managed to see a tattoo in such an intimate spot. Then imagining what sort of tattoo Rachel would get and the image of her sitting in a chair with a tattoo artist nestled between her shapely legs inking her skin, is making her flush all kinds of unflattering colors.

"She caught me watching her undress one day and she smiled at me. I was too chickenshit to do anything about it then but if Rachel Berry ever gave me a second chance, I would jump on that and ride her till the wheels fell off!"

"I'll be sure to tell Rach you'd consider her a viable mode of transportation." Quinn snorts into her glass. Lindsey sits up quickly, latching onto Quinn's forearm with a surprisingly strong grip, maybe this girl should have been called Man Hands.

"You still keep in touch with Rachel?"

"Yeah, we're friends," duh, "I mean we're both busy with school and life but we text or email each other like once a week. Why?" Quinn asks, narrowing her hazel eyes in suspicion.

"Could you send her a text now?"

"It's 6:30, Rachel is probably just getting back from her last class, so…"

"Oh please Quinn, will you?!" Lindsey is nearly ripping Quinn's arm out of its socket in her drunken excitement.

"Linds, this is ridiculous. I'm not even sure that Rachel is _that_ into girls."

"What do you mean not _that_ into girls?" Kate asks "Did the two of you ever…?"

"No…I mean it was just a tiny kiss." Quinn reluctantly backtracks. "We were all at Matt's house and for some reason we were playing suck and blow, the card slipped and Rachel and I kissed for like five seconds before the guys brains imploded. It was nothing." Only it hadn't felt like nothing but Quinn wasn't about to tell them that.

"Shut the front door, you kissed Rachel Berry! Tell me, were her lips as delectable as they look?" Lindsey looks on with eager eyes, awaiting an answer.

In lieu of a response, because there is no way that she was admitting that yes, Hell yes Rachel Berry's lips _are_ just as delectable as they appear! Quinn fishes her phone out of her purse. Touching the screen a picture of her daughter flashes across the screen, she smiles gently then cringes at Lindsey's squeals assaulting her ears.

"Oh my gosh Kate look!" grabbing the phone out of Quinn's hand, her over exuberant friend shoves the phone into Kate's face pointing at the older girl in the picture. "This is her, that's Rachel!"

"Damn, she is hot!" Kate agrees, lighting up a cigarette and blowing smoke out of the side of her mouth. She shoots Quinn an indecipherable glance as the blond texts Rachel and attempts to explain why their ex-classmate was flirting with her out of the blue.

* * *

After finally getting Sophia to sleep, Quinn is just about to close her wary eyes when her cell vibrates loudly on her bedside stand.

"So," the text reads, "this Lindsey is she like your alter ego? Is there something you're trying to tell me Fabray?"

"You wish Berry! Besides, you already know Lindsey or I should say she knows you, very well judging by the mysterious tattoo that only she was privy to."

"If you wanted to see my tattoo Quinn all you had to do was ask."

Quinn pauses before responding, sometimes she and Rachel would get so comfortable with the friendly teasing that it often seems as though they really were flirting with each other. There's a niggling thought in the back of her head that's whispering that she's not completely opposed to the idea as she should be.

"Send me a picture." Quinn breathlessly demands.

Waiting impatiently for the photo to download, Quinn let's out a strangled moan moments later, at the two little musical notes seared onto smooth bronzed skin. It's cute and kinda sexy in a way that totally fits Rachel.

"Funny for a second there I was sure the tattoo would read Streisand 4 ever!"

"Despite my love and admiration for Madam Streisand, she is not the woman whose name I would permanently etch upon my body."

"So…what woman would you deem acceptable to have grace your precious flesh?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Quinn allows her mind to wander, imagining who's name Rachel would tattoo onto some scandalous part of her body. Briefly she considers adding her name to the short list and her stomach does a curious flip in response but she quickly dismisses the thought and tells the other girl that she's going to sleep. When she wakes the next morning to suspiciously damp panties and an relentless throbbing between her legs, Quinn decides that she's been celibate for much too long.

* * *

**Summer 2013**

Santana had been back in Lima for two days without so much as catching a glimpse of the blond. Her first day home was spent trying to get resettled back into her bedroom that now felt foreign and bare. The only good thing was the queen size bed that she could stretch out luxuriously in, the too narrow extra long twin beds in the dorm took quite a while to get used to. Almost every night for a month, she would turn too far onto her side and crash headfirst into the concrete wall.

Coming out of the stiflingly awkward atmosphere of the Fabray home, Santana bumps into someone as she closes the wrought iron gate behind her. There, with the afternoon sun shining brightly behind her golden tresses was Brittany.

The conversation was stilted, both unsure how to interact around each other. Brittany was afraid that Santana had outgrown their once so close friendship. Santana's greatest fear was that Brittany no longer needed her. In the end, all it takes is one of Brittany's infamous smiles and Santana's transported back to grade school, when she first met the girl that would forever change her life.

At first things are just like every other summer they've spent together. Santana will sleep late each morning, Brittany will come to her house around 10 a.m. bouncing on her bed until Santana can't take the aggravation any longer and tackles Brittany to the mattress. The two friends make a big breakfast filled with fatty foods and enough sugar to put a toddler into orbit, just to spite Coach Sylvester's old insanely strict dietary regiment. Watching a couple of SpongeBob episodes because Santana thinks Squidward is made of win even though Brittany is still confused as to why a household sponge can be considered a sea creature. Yeah, it's just like old times, except now Santana gets a call or a text from Rachel every couple of hours. Rachel is a friend so Brittany doesn't think anything of it, she even talks to Rachel a few times herself but then there are the other calls. The one's that Santana leaves the room to take from someone named Bree.

It's not too long before they fall back into _all_ of their old habits. It happens on a Tuesday, about an hour before Santana's parent are due to arrive home from work. They're snuggled on the couch and during an Angelina Jolie movie marathon, Santana's hand that was draped over Brittany's hip, leisurely begins to stroke the other girl's stomach. Brittany sucks in a breath at Santana's cool fingers lightly rubbing her belly. She shifts and Santana's pinky slips under the waistband of her shorts, groaning softly.

The tiny noise is a thundering sound that reverberates in her ears. Immediately, Santana stills her actions, she starts to pull her hand away and apologize but Brittany's warmer hand engulfs hers. Brittany slides both their hands up her flat stomach to rest snuggly between her breast.

'She's not wearing a bra!' Santana thinks, swallowing hard at her discovery.

They stay locked in this position for another five minutes. Brittany waits for Santana to make the next move but Santana's worried about how this will affect their newly reinstated friendship. Brittany grows tired of waiting, so she turns her head to the side and begins to place lingering kisses to Santana's neck.

"B…" Santana weakly protests.

"Shhh," Brittany soothes her by placing a kiss right below the Latina's ear, "I missed you, S."

"Dios Mio Britt, I missed you so much!" Turning her head, Santana crashes her mouth against Brittany. Pulling back to bite the other girl's lip, then sink her tongue into Brittany's open mouth. She grips Brittany's waist, tugging her closer and sliding them off of the couch and onto the floor. She hasn't had sex with Brittany in well over a year, they definitely need more room for what she has in mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bring Me Home**

Disclaimer: characters are the property of Fox and Ryan Murphy

A/N: Alright, for all of you who moaned about the Brittana lovin' being cut short last chapter, I added a little snippet that will hopefully satisfy your craving. Enjoy!

**Chapter 4: Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries**

**Late May, 2012**

"I feel dreadful about this." Rachel softly admits. A tiny hand wraps itself into her silky hair, twirling the strands around little fingers until she cracks a smile.

"Don't stress over it, Berry." Puck looks up from his plate of spaghetti to the girl gently rocking his daughter in her lap.

"Puck's right," Quinn agrees, "stop worrying yourself to death about it. At the end of the day, you have to do what is best for you Rachel. This play is an incredible opportunity for you to get your foot in the door."

"Yes this is a magnificent opportunity, one that I have been painstakingly awaiting my entire life for…I just wish it didn't come at Glee's expense."

"Fuu…" Puck stops mid-word as the two older girls viciously glare at him, "fudge it, with the way Schuester's been treating you since whatsherface? showed up, you don't owe him nothing."

"Mr. Schuester gave Charlotte the lead because she is capable of leading the team to a victory." As difficult as it was to admit, Charlotte is a wonderful singer. The fact that Mr. Schuester adores the girl and readily gave her Rachel's solo was like pouring salt _and_ lemon juice in an open wound.

"_You_ are the one who leads us to victory." Quinn argues, reaching across the wobbly table of their favorite Italian restaurant to clasp Rachel's hand in her own, "Even way back in sophomore year when Coach Sylvester leaked the set list and we all just sat there like idiots while the other teams did all our numbers. It was you, Rachel that got us up off of our butts and put together the new numbers. Everyone was so busy patting Finn on the back for returning that they forgot it was you who carried us through, and it was also you who stopped the group from skinning Santana and Brittany alive for helping Coach."

"Be that as it may," Rachel smiles to herself, though they have been friends for months now, it's still a bit strange to hear such praise come from a girl who used to despise her, "it's called Glee Club, _not_ the Rachel Berry show with a dozen backup performers. I gladly stepped aside for the greater good of the group."

"Oh that's complete bullshit and you know it."

"Noah!"

"Puck!" both girls exclaim, Rachel even goes so far as to cover little Sophia's ears.

"Hey you took away my F bombs, there's no way I'm giving you my brown word too."

"Well then you can explain to your mother when Soph's first word is S.H.I.T."

"Whatever," Puck rolls his eyes at Quinn's dramatics but they all know deep down he's terrified of pissing off his mom. "look Schue's being a jerk, we all know he took away your solo as punishment for always pointing out how incompetent he really is. Did you know he actually blackmailed Finn to join Glee, of course Finn is too retarded to realize when he's being played but Schuester's always preaching about doing the right thing. Hypercritical jackoff."

"That's appalling!" Rachel gasps.

"Guess Coach Sylvester was right," Quinn shakes her head gravely, "you really can't trust a man with curly hair."

"See, all these years you guys were ragging on my 'hawk when the real danger lies with the man who uses too much products."

**Summer 2013**

They're running late, Quinn's phone call interrupted their mid-morning snuggling to inform Brittany that she'll pick them up for the little Glee reunion lunch in twenty minutes. Time being of the essence, Santana had no trouble at all convincing Brittany to join her in the shower. It's a flimsy excuse but neither one is complaining. Thirteen minutes pass as they stand under the now lukewarm spray of water, Santana's fingers buried deep inside of Brittany's heat and her mouth greedily drinking in the blondes pleasurable moans.

Brittany makes a sound deep in her throat, dragging her nails down the Latina's back then gripping Santana's firm ass roughly, hiking the other girl onto her thigh encouraging her to grind a bit harder. Santana chuckles lightly, everyone would assume that she is the assertive one in this relationship, oh if they only knew how commanding Brittany can be when she's this turned on. But on second thought, she'd happily kick the ass of anyone who dared to find out just how amazing Brittany is during sex.

"Fuck S!" and she swears a lot too, bonus! "You make me feel so good."

"Brit," Santana groans, her tongue darting out to circle a rose colored nipple then catching it between her teeth to tug gently. Brittany's hips buck against her at the sensation so she adds another finger, crooking them slightly while rubbing her thumb around the other girl's clit.

"Sssss!" Brittany hisses as her body convulses, the tremors are enough to push Santana over the edge and she pushes her forehead in between Brittany's breast, riding out the delicious waves of release.

Once her breathing returns to normal, she reaches out a hand to shut off the water and that's when she hears the doorbell ringing incessantly, followed by a loud banging on the front door and Quinn's voice calling out her name. Their twenty minute warning was up, and she's sure that Quinn is going to bitch at her all afternoon for making her wait but as Brittany presses soft kisses along her jaw and wraps a towel snuggly around her body, Santana can't seem to muster up enough energy to give a damn.

* * *

Puck is having the hardest time getting his daughter to eat her lunch, a scowl marring his features because his dining companions Kurt, Mercedes, Matt, Artie and Tina aren't any help in getting the toddler to swallow the grilled cheese sandwich. Instead they're stuck somewhere in between amusement and revulsion each time the child takes a bite of the sandwich only to push the mushed up food back out of her mouth seconds later.

He looks up relieved as Quinn walks into the restaurant and spots their group in the corner. Santana and Brittany follow close behind the young mother, their hands clasped tightly and secretive smiles pasted onto their happy faces. Puck gives Quinn a '_this is gonna end badly' _look to which she silently replies, '_a disaster waiting to happen_.'

Food orders are placed and Quinn effortlessly has Sophia half finished with her meal. The plan was to have an original Glee Club reunion but not everyone was able to make it back after their first year of college.

"So where's Lady Gaga?" Kurt drawls, tentatively touching his D&G sunglasses atop his head "I wore my special fashion disaster deflection shades in anticipation of whatever horrific ensemble she chose for this occasion."

"Rachel stayed in New York," Santana snarls at the bitchy little twerp, "she landed the role of Penny in a stage adaptation of '_Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along_. I caught part of her rehearsal before I left, she's going to be amazing."

"Rach was so excited about it, and to be working with Neil Patrick Harris. We talked for like three hours last week."

"She's doing a show with NPH," Brittany asks, "that's kind of a big deal, right?"

"Yes, it is." Kurt covetously admits, using his pinky to shift his bangs out of his eyes. He tries to think of some insult to bring the diva down but the look that Santana and Quinn are currently giving him, has his mouth momentarily shut on the topic of Rachel Berry.

Santana sneers again just for good measure, even she has to admit that sticking up for Rachel after years of treating the girl like something to be scraped off of your shoe, is weird. But once away from Lima, she found it surprisingly easy to befriend Rachel, their relationship is more like a sisterly bond, she may snipe at the girl all day but if anyone else tries to fuck with her then Santana will prove what badass is made of.

"You know Q," Puck says around a mouth full of fries, "you should come see the final show with me when I drive Santana's stuff back to New York."

"I don't think that's a good idea, I mean I can't just up and leave town, what about Sophia?"

"We can bring her." He suggests, ruffling his daughter's dark blond hair and causing the girl to giggle.

"I think she's a bit too young to bring to see a play that doesn't involve puppets, Puck."

"So, we can have Bubby Tovah watch her, she's been dying to see our little girl in the flesh anyway."

"Yeah Q, she'd love to babysit little S." Santana pulls her attention away from gazing into Brittany's cerulean eyes long enough to chime in. "Puck and Rach have shown Bubby so many pictures and talk about every nauseatingly cute thing the kid's ever done, you'd think that she was the grandmother."

"Why is Puck driving you back?" Tina asks without a trace of a stutter.

"He's helping me deliver my bed for our new apartment. Bubby has a friend that's moving to Boca Raton and letting Rach and me sublet her apartment."

"Let you sublet it?" Quinn snorts as she wipes her daughter's hands clean, "The way I heard it you ruthlessly won the apartment in a canasta deathmatch with the old woman."

"Not my fault she didn't have the collateral to back up the hand," Santana shrugs unapologetically. "Mrs. Silverman was the one who wanted to play high stakes, she totally would have beat me for my iPad. I mean really, what the hell am I suppose to do with blood pressure medication anyway?"

"You swindled an old woman out of her home?" Matt asks trying hard not to look too impressed.

"She was moving anyway!" throwing up her hands in aggravation, Santana takes a deep breath and tries to focus on Brittany's hand drawing soothing circles on the inside of her thigh and _not_ diving across the table to smack that look off of Matt's face. "We needed a place, Silverman was sick of the city, it was a win win."

"You're moving out of the dorms already?" Mercedes asks, "Isn't it really expensive in the city and you're only gonna be a sophomore?"

"Rachel's roommate is taking some time off next semester to become a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater. Aubrey is one of the few at Julliard who don't worship Rachel like she's the love child of Fosse and Minelli. She didn't want to chance rooming with someone who was likely to be up her ass every second of the day and I've spent more time in the dorms at Julliard than at Columbia, so it just made sense that we find a place to share."

"Wait a tick," Kurt interrupts, cause there was seriously so many things wrong with what Santana just said about Berry, "you're going to be rooming with Rachel? Willingly?"

"The same Rachel who's neighbors started a petition to get her to stop sing all the damn time?" Mercedes turns to Kurt and the two laugh like what she just said was the funniest damn joke ever told. "I'll give it a week before the first round of bloodletting."

"You know, you two cackling over there like a couple of snotty bitches is getting real old." Puck grumbles, effectively silencing their giggles. "I don't know what the fuck's your issue with Rachel but knock it the fuck off!"

"Says the guy whose day wasn't complete unless he tossed a slushie in her face." Kurt counters, undaunted by Puck's ire, "I refuse to believe Rachel's _that_ good in bed to make you the defender of her honor."

"What's the matter Beyonce, you got 'gina envy?"

"Alright that's enough, all of you!" Quinn shouts just before Santana's fingers inch towards the knife sitting on the table in front of her. "First of all, Rachel is our friend so if you've got a problem with her then you've got a problem with us." motioning to Puck, Santana and herself. "Secondly, watch your language, there is a child sitting right here and the last thing I need is for her to pick up on your filthy language! And third, Rachel never slept with Puck." Quinn's not sure why exactly it was so important that she throw that last part in but as long as she was defending Rachel she figured she might as well put that speculation to rest.

"I have to get to work." Brittany's voice softly cuts through the tension that's quickly disintegrating their friendly little lunch.

Santana grits her teeth, still itching for a fight and add on top of that a whole afternoon without Brittany and she's desperate for some sort of outlet for her annoyance. Instead of handing out a richly deserved ass whooping, she grips Brittany's hand as she slides out of the booth, tossing money for their food onto the table. If they hurry then they'll be able to squeeze in quick make out session before Brittany has to clock in to her shift at Express.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bring Me Home**

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Fox

A/N: After much consideration I've decided to only add certain parts of the last nine episodes into this fic. Since the story picks up in senior year, I've had a bit of wiggle room cannon wise. The only major difference is that Shelby did seek Rachel out and ditched her soon after but she did not adopt Quinn and Puck's baby, obviously. She does adopt another child and she quits coaching Vocal Adrenalin after they took Nationals.

**Chapter 5: There Are Worse Things I Could Do**

"They _so_ slept together." Kurt announces to the table at large after Puck and Quinn departed from the diner.

"Which one?" Mercedes snorts and rolls her eyes in derision. This shits been going on since sophomore year, swapping sex partners like other people change their hairstyle. For being labeled such a loser geek in high school, Rachel Berry had left a trail of wounded hearts in her wake.

"Probably all three of them," he says in that hoity tone specially reserved when speaking about his nemesis, "why else would someone _willingly_ defend Rachel?"

"Maybe they are just friends, I mean you were being pretty rude." Matt tries to intervene but knows from years of experience that he'll most likely be ignored.

"I didn't state anything that wasn't already a proven fact, just because she became friends with the quote/unquote _A listers _doesn't mean she's immune from constructive criticism."

"True, but you know what the most difficult part about constructive criticism is? Most people don't know how to give it." at least Matt had the balls to call a duck a duck, no matter how useless it may be. Kurt has had a serious hate on for Rachel right from the beginning and with her growing success, that's not likely to ever change.

* * *

The park near her parents house is particularly crowded today, Quinn surmises watching Sophia and a small army of kids running back and forth from the swings to the monkey-bars. Man, what she wouldn't give to be so carefree that all it took was a couple of swishes through the air suspended by steel chains to make her happy. Stretching her neck until it cracks loudly, she sighs and rubs at the knots causing her such discomfort. What started out as a nice chance to catch up with old friends quickly dissolved into a total bitchfest, led by none other than the resident hater himself, Kurt Hummel. And let's not forget his ever loyal puppet, Mercedes.

Quinn has had an issue with Kurt ever since she cottoned on to the fact that he tried just as/if not more, hard as Rachel to seduce Finn away from her back in high school. While Rachel's approach was straightforward and brash, Kurt was devious and sneaky. He took her advice in giving Rachel a makeover but then tricked the fashion victim into embarrassing herself by pretending to be the exact _opposite_ of what Finn considered sexy. Actually, that was kind of funny and Rachel did look really hot sashaying down the hall in that outfit. But what Quinn didn't find so amusing was Kurt's brilliant idea to have Finn sing that stupid ballad to her parents that ultimately got her kicked out of the house. But the cherry on top of his crazy cake was definitely the Poison Ivy-esque scheme of fixing his dad up with Finn's mom, now that was just all types of delusional obsessions.

Plopping down heavily onto the bench, Puck snags the ziplock baggie of seedless grapes held aloof from Quinn's left hand and pops a couple into his mouth.

"We gotta fix this shit and fix it fast."

Quinn spares him a disinterested look then turns her focus back onto the playground.

"Am I speaking in Parseltongue, did you _not_ hear what I just said?" he's not whining, really. The Puckasaurus, and yes that moniker is awesome no matter what Q says, does not whine like a little bitch. He's just speaking…emphatically or whatever.

"What Brittany and Santana do is none of our business, Puck."

"Since when do you pass up the chance to get all up in someone else's business, Q?"

"Since we stopped being a bunch of stupid hormone driven teenagers," quirking her mouth, Quinn sneaks a glance at Puck and nudges his shoulder, "well most of us anyway."

"Alright, first of all bite me. And second, you know that whenever Brittana gets together, that explosive lesbo drama is like imminent and shit." Puck flicks his fingers out, mimicking the atomic blast that's sure to erupt soon. "So call Berry and figure out what we're gonna do about it."

When Quinn makes no move to get her phone, Puck cocks his head to the side, studying the far off look in her hazel eyes.

"S'wrong with you?"

"I heard my mother talking to one of her nosy ass friends the other day. She was asking for the number of a private investigator that Mrs. Donnelly keeps on retainer."

"What the hell does she need a P.I. for? You in some kinda trouble, cause you know I can help keep you and little S safe."

"No, it's nothing like that." Quinn sighs, rubbing her forehead to help stave off the headache she just knows will be making an appearance soon. "She thinks my father's cheating on her but because of the pre-nup she signed when they got married she needs tangible proof before she can file for divorce."

"Wow, that sucks. Who woulda thought you dad was the roaming type, huh?"

"Apparently hypocrisy is a family trait."

"Look if you want, you and little S can come crash at my place for a while. It's not much but I mostly sleep at the Firehouse these days so you'll have the place to yourself."

"Thanks but, no we'll be alright." Quinn smiles gratefully at him. Was there ever a time that she didn't think Puck would be a good father or friend? How could she have been so blind as to think Finn was the better man?

"So then let's get started on this other mess."

"Puck I'm really not in the mood to bust up someone's relationship, especially if they're happy."

"They're not gonna be happy for long." Puck rolls his eyes and heaves a long suffering sigh, "Look I like Britt but no offense…she's gonna be stuck in Lima for the rest of her life and working at some crap job."

"You're working in Lima." Quinn points out, feeling a little affronted on Brittany's behalf.

"Yeah but my job has medical benefits and a pension."

"We both know the main reason you chose to become a fireman was so that you could fulfill your self proclaimed destiny to become 'Mr. July' in the fireman's calendar." Actually Quinn was just kidding but the look on Puck's face doesn't refute the claim. "Maybe we don't have to do anything, I mean Britt and Santana have been in love, real actual love since they were like seven years old. Maybe they can make it work for real this time?"

But even as the words leave her lips Quinn knows it's not likely to happen. Yes, Brittany and Santana love each other but emotionally, they've never been in the same place at the same time. And now with San living in New York, it's highly unlikely that what's happening between her two friends is little more than a summer romance. So Quinn reluctantly fishes her cell out of her purse and dials Santana's new bff, to get her take on the situation.

* * *

Shifting her position for the third time in less than five minutes, Santana shakes the growing numbness out of her right leg and propels herself closer to Brittany. Making out in the front seat of a Ford Focus may not have been her brightest idea of the day but any time she gets to spend with B is well worth being uncomfortable, especially when the blond is sucking on her tongue like it's harboring the last drops of water on Earth.

"Aren't you gonna get that?" Brittany asks in a breathless whisper.

Santana is so dazed from the heated kisses that it takes a few seconds for her to hear the familiar ring tone blaring from her bag on the backseat. But as Bette Midler crooning about a '_Rose'_ continues to play, Santana spies that sad look creeping over Brittany's beautiful face whenever Santana gets a call from someone back in New York.

"It's just Rach." she casually dismisses. Then makes a mental note to stop leaving her phone unattended whenever Berry is in one of her puckish moods and decides to choose her own ringtone. Come to think of it, she still owes her new roomie an ass-chewing after 'Milkshake' interrupted her study session with Professor Hamilton last April.

"You're not gonna answer?"

"She probably just wants to complain about that Shelby-bitch trying to worm her way back into her life."

"Shelby?" Brittany questions, furrowing her brow as she tries to recall who exactly this person is.

"_Corcoran_, former coach of Vocal Adrenaline and the gold medal winner for World's Worst Mother, three years standing. She called Rachel out of the blue a few months ago and was all like, _'Hey I'm getting married and starting a new family, and even though I've been a total super-bitch to you, now that you're making it in the business where I bombed, let's get together and play family.'_" Santana contemptuously scoffs, "Seriously, Corcoran just dropped in out of nowhere with this new kid she and her finace adopted, expecting Rachel to just forgive the shitty way she dumped her."

Brittany could only sit in silence as she watched her…_girlfriend_?, she's still not really clear on what to call their reunion, get worked up over her roommates family issues. Brittany nods her head in all the right places as Santana continues to rant, slamming her palm into the steering wheel to emphasize her displeasure and cursing Shelby Corcoran for her wishy-washy feelings towards her biological child.

"Is Rachel dating anyone?" Britt randomly questions, catching Santana off guard and in mid rant.

"Not really, there's this hot ass cougar she casually hooks-up with. Rizzoli's a cop so her hours are weird, they mostly just grab a drink and fool around."

"So no one she's serious with?"

Santana takes a minute to really give the question some thought. It's obvious that Brittany's digging for info, subterfuge is not one of her stronger personality traits but the sudden interest in Rachel's love life is a topic Brittany wouldn't bring up unless she was doing someone else's dirty work.

"Bubby Tovah's dying to set Rachel up with one of her friend's niece's but she's been so busy lately with the Dr. Horrible's show and all of the promotion she'll have to do, dating pretty much the last thing on her mind. Why?"

"It's almost time for my shift, walk me inside." Brittany quickly dodges the question, grabs her purse and is out of the car before Santana can even wrap her mind around this situation.

"B, what are you up to?" Jogging up beside the blond, she opens the glass door to the Lima Mall Entrance but blocks the other girl from entering. A middle aged woman huffs an aggravated **'Excuse Me'**, at the girls standing in front of the door but Santana shoots her a glare that clearly states _'Bitch, use one of the other five fucking doors!_'.

"Nothing bad, I swear." the blond reassures her friend, holding up her thumb earnestly.

"You swear with your pinky," Santana gently corrects "and I know that look, so spill."

"Quinn has a crush on Rachel," Brittany darts her eyes around looking for any eavesdroppers. "she's been sad ever since she hooked Rachel up with Lindsey, you remember Lindsey right? Anyway, Lindsey said she had a thing for Rachel back in high school and Quinn gave Lindsey Rachel's number, only now she's jealous because she's starting to realize that she _like_ likes Rachel and doesn't want her to be with anybody except for her."

"And you're what, trying to get them together?" Santana laughs mirthlessly at the absurdity of that relationship ever happening. "Good luck with that. Quinn might have been able to get over her hang-ups and becomes friends with Rachel but there's no way her tightly wound, severely closeted ass is ever going to really confront her feelings for Rachel."

"She will," Brittany insisted, vigorously nodding her head. "Quinn isn't as churchy as she used to be. I think she's always liked Rachel but didn't know how to show it and they're friends now so it should be easier for her to feel comfortable about having those feelings for Rachel."

" Britt I know you mean well and even if what you said about Quinn is true, do you really think that just because Rachel was able to forgive all of the bullying we all put her through that she'll allow herself to fall for Quinn?"

"Mr. Schue always said that 'The heart wants, what the heart wants'"

"Schue is a complete fucktard!"

"That's not nice San." Brittany gently scolds

"I know B, I'm sorry but Schue's not a nice guy. He was just as mean to Rachel as we were and he didn't even try to hide it. But anyway, how do you know that Quinn is jealous of some chick Rachel talked to on the phone?"

"They didn't just talk on the phone, when Rachel came back here over Christmas break, Quinn said she slept with Lindsey."

"Really, she didn't tell me that?" Santana scratches her head in confusion.

True they don't share _every_ little detail about their lives but Santana thought that she and Rachel were close enough that the girl would at least mention that she slept with one of their old classmates. Rachel's incredibly open about her sex life, she certainly had no qualms about texting Santana at 2:45 a.m. yesterday, just to report how much better police issued handcuffs were in comparison to the novelty pairs sold at their favorite sex shop in The Village.

"I don't think she wanted it to get back to Quinn, fat load of good that did. Lindsey couldn't shut up about how great the sex was, I thought Quinn was gonna punch her for sure after she said the words, '**Mind Blowing Orgasm!**' for like the seventh time."

"Who would have guessed that Berry was a dynamo in the sack?" Santana laughs, even though she's gotten confirmation of this fact from Aubrey, a couple of girls at Julliard and most recently, Rachel's cougar Detective Rizzoli, it's still hard to imagine adorkable Rachel as some kind of sex goddess.

"I knew!" Brittany enthusiastically announces, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Santana is sure she'll get whiplash, what with how fast she snaps her head to stare incredulously at the blond.

"What the **fuck** Britt?"

"We had a dance class together," the bright smile slowly slides off of her face at the angry glare her girlfriend gives her, "Rachel's really flexible. She should have been a Cheerio."

"Oh, right…um sorry." Santana sheepishly apologizes. She wants to kiss away the frown marring Brittany's lovely face but there's a group of nosy old women gawking at them because of her vulgar outburst, so she settles for subtly squeezing the blondes hand affectionately.

Brittany gives her a small smile in return and thanks Santana for the ride, before heading into the store.


	6. Chapter 6

Bring Me Home

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Fox

A/N: This story is really beginning to feel like a Faberry piece, so I'm thinking of posting it at the Rachel/Quinn site but let me apologize in advance for letting my love for Rachel run amuck. Also, not to spoil anything but let's just say that the road to true love is never easy.

Chapter 6: I'm A Freak, But Thanks For Loving Me

The following Friday, the former members of McKinley High's Glee club received specially engraved invitations for breakfast at the Berry residence. The cast of _Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog _will be making an appearance on _Good Morning America _and later that morning, on _The View_. The proud papas Berry took this opportunity to bask in their only child's success, while simultaneously christening their newly renovated home theatre room. As much as this little revelry was a celebration of their daughter's achievements thus far, it was in equal parts a gigantic 'Fuck You!' to every single person who ever belittled her or told Rachel she wasn't good enough to make it. Not too long ago, Quinn herself was one of the most vocal naysayers.

Back in the first grade, Ms. Anderson asked the students to draw a picture of what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most if the boys drew pictures of themselves as football or basketball players, a few of the girls drew safe occupations as nurses, teachers and the occasional doctor. Quinn was sitting across the desk from Rachel, ruminating on whether she would actually have a job or just be a housewife like her mother when her musing was interrupted by Ms. Anderson asking Rachel what all of the gold stars surrounding the girl on the page represented.

"That's me," little Rachel pointed to the girl holding a microphone in one hand and a big smile on her face. "I'm going to be a famous singer on Broadway." it was said so matter-of-factly that Quinn believed in that moment that Rachel's dream would come true, even though she hadn't a clue what _Broadway_ was exactly. Unfortunately their teacher didn't share this same belief.

"Rachel maybe you should think about something a little more realistic, you're a smart girl it wouldn't do to waste your time on silly dreams." the woman walked away, patting Rachel's should in sympathy. Rachel waited until their teacher made in back to the front of the room before focusing back on her picture with renewed vigor.

"Well she just lost her favorable mention in my Tony Award acceptance speech."

The corners of Quinn's mouth twitched a little and with that thought in mind she set about making her picture, opting for a profession outside Ms. Anderson preconceived realm of possibilities.

Quinn and Sophia arrived early to lend the two men a hand in the kitchen. Recalling several nights gorging on take-out because none of the Berry's could cook dinner to save their lives, Quinn was expecting to be put on 'Scoop the food out of the take-away container and onto a serving platter' duty, but was pleasantly surprised when she walked into the kitchen to find Boyd Berry gingerly dipping a slice of Texas Toast into a milky cinnamon mixture.

"Berry's Berry French Toast!" he exclaimed with a flourish. Then he carefully placed the sodden bread onto the hot griddle. "It's an old family recipe."

"It smells amazing," taking inventory of the ingredients spread out on the island in the middle of the Berry's spacious kitchen, Quinn grins at the large bowls of exotic fruit that the men surely had to have specially delivered overnight from the _Harry & David _catalog. "So what's the fruit-of-the-month for June?"

"Prunus armeniaca also known as the Apricot." wiping his hands on a dish towel, Boyd scoops out a sampling of all of the fruits and with a wink, places the bowl in front of Sophia. "Though they're not in season, the blueberries are to die for."

"Thank you." Sophia politely accepts the bowl and scrambles off to sit at the dining room table.

After last week's disastrous lunch, Quinn was a little surprised to see the other glee members accept the Berry's invitation. When they arrived in pairs they at least had the good graces to act polite and keep their snide comments to themselves. Artie was the first to express his gratitude to their hosts, though that could have been because he was touched that Ira had the foresight to place a temporary ramp on the front steps to accommodate his chair. If seeing Kurt and Mercedes behaving themselves wasn't enough to make Quinn pinch herself to make sure she was awake, Sue Sylvester's borderline chipper appearance was cause for apocalyptic panic.

"Sue!" Will Schuester gaped open mouth at the tall blond, clad in a bright red Addias track suit and wearing a pearl necklace, her variation of dressy casual wear. "what are you doing here?"

"Why shouldn't I be here to celebrate this grand and what is likely to be, ostentatious occasion William?" Sue drawls, waltzing into the house and giving the room a disinterested once over.

"It was my understanding that this gathering was to celebrate one of New Directions' members success." barely restraining his indignant anger, Will calms somewhat when he feels Emma Pillsbury lightly grasp his arm.

"Of course," Ira interrupts the oncoming brawl. He's heard enough war stories from his daughter to know that these two teachers have a habit of nearly throwing down regardless of where they may be at the time, "Coach Sylvester was ever so kind as to write Rachel a glowing letter of recommendation when she was applying to Julliard. She even went so far as to personally talk to the admissions board at Yale University just to make sure Rachel took advantage of all of her opportunities. Who better than Coach Sylvester would be more welcome in our home?"

That last comment was aimed at Will and no matter how clueless the teacher may be half the time, he knew when to duck his head in shame at his less than stellar track record with the nascent starlet.

"In addition to being an Internationally rank Cheerleading Coach and just plain awesome," Sue pauses with a cocky smirk, daring the curly haired pansy to refute her claim, "I still hold the title of co-director of William McKinley High's drama department and I would have been remiss in my duties as co-director if I didn't encourage one of our brightest stars to fulfill her potential. The fact that Berry unknowingly handed you the right amount of rope to hang yourself with William was just icing on the cake."

Its taken entire school year of fundraising and pleading with Figgins not to cut the program after their terrible loss at Nationals. As much as Will would love to lash out at Sue, he knows that the blame for their hardship lies solely at his feet. Shelby may not be at the helm of Vocal Adrenalin any longer but her successor was even more ruthless than he ever could have dreamed. Planting Charolette in their club to force Rachel out was a diabolical maneuver and one that Will wholeheartedly fell prey to.

"Well Sue, if you'll follow me down this hall," Ira gestures to the right, "my husband has just finished mixing the protein shake to your specifications."

"Excellent, you've got to love the gays for their adherence to meticulous dietary directions." clapping Will on the shoulder, harder than necessary, as she proceeded into the dining room Sue Sylvester gave a non-committal greeting to the others in attendance.

The start of Rachel's segment came after a very long wait, made even longer by the teasers announcing that the appearance was 'coming up soon'. Quinn sat amongst their friends in utter silence as they watched the girl they had walked the same halls with nearly everyday now on national television.

The skirt of Rachel's lilac sundress slid up when she crossed her legs and took a seat on the wooden directors chair, placing her toned naturally tanned legs on display. Rachel was glowing, corny as it may seem, it's the only accurate way to describe the brunette. Or maybe it was simply the reflection off of her ever present gold Star of David necklace.

She sat sandwiched between two very handsome and talented stars of stage and screen, comfortably bantering back and forth as if they were hanging in their favorite coffee shop and not sitting live in front of millions of viewers. Between Neil Patrick Harris' cute anecdote of his first meeting with Rachel and how he was absolutely blown away when this huge voice came out of such a tiny person and Nathan Fillion's witty comments interspersed throughout the interview, Rachel explains how she was invited to audition for the show after one of the producers saw her performance in the Julliard Spring Showcase.

Neil and Rachel perform 'My Eyes' and when Nathan joins the pair for 'A Man's Gotta Do', the crowd outside of the GMA studios totally loses their shit.

The second the credits began to roll, Ira Berry leaped across the room to the phone, anxious to call Rachel and discuss her next appearance.

"That was wonderful, I didn't realize this musical was so popular." Emma states as the adults congregate towards the kitchen.

"A little campy for my tastes but no one does 'doe-eyed bleeding heart' like Berry so it's not such a hard sell." Sue actually complements.

"Auntie Rach looked pretty right mommy?" Sophia innocently inquires.

"Yes baby Rachel looked very beautiful." a slight blush warms Quinn's face and she tries to hide her obvious affections by burying her face in her daughter's hair. Boyd and Ira share an amused look over the blondes head and Brittany pokes Santana in the side.

"See," Brittany whispers in the other girl's ear, "what did I tell you? Quinn's totally into Rachel."

"You bribed the kid to say that, didn't you?" Santana shakes her head at Brittany's meddling.

"Yep." the peppy blond happily admits.

"And what does Puck think about you using his daughter to hook up her mother with his ex?"

"Puck was the one who said we should use little S. Now on to the next part of the plan big S, you have to talk to Rachel and drop hints about Quinn."

"Oh hell no, I'm staying out of this B, sorry. I've got enough stuff going on right now and the last thing I want is to get caught up in this shit storm.."

"It's not a shit storm," Brittany pouts, "we'll be getting Quinn and Rachel to finally admit that they weren't really fighting over Finn back in high school. They like each other, I know they do and when they get together it'll be awesome, like a perfect storm of hotness!"

Placing a light kiss on the obstinate Latina's lips, Brittany grins to herself when she feels Santana's resolve cracking and deepens the kiss.

"Now _that_ is totally worth waking up at freakin 8 a.m. on my day off for!" Puck exclaims, leering at the two girls sitting next to him on plush leather stadium chairs. The Fireman is too busy giving a high-five to Matt that he doesn't see Santana's fist until it's too late to dodge the oncoming blow. "Ow damn, why are you so freakin strong?"

"You're just a pussy!" Santana hisses in annoyance. Puck smirks lasciviously at the girl, gearing up to make a wholly inappropriate joke, so she cocks her fist back in warning. He quickly got the hint and turned back to talk to Matt.

"I'll help you with those." Brittany offers to help Boyd Berry collect their dirty dishes. She vacates the chair she was previously snuggling in with Santana and carefully stacks the syrup drenched plates in her hands.

"Thank you Brittany and thank you kids for coming over to show support for our Rachel."

* * *

Sophia contracts the chickenpox in mid July, Quinn spends the better part of two days trying to keep her three year old from scratching the small itchy blisters. After a long oatmeal bath and being rubbed from head to toe in calamine lotion, Soph is finally asleep, Quinn is exhausted yet too wired over her child's illness to rest. Picking up her phone she hit's the 2 speed dial slot and starts talking before the other person even has a chance to give a proper greeting.

"Is it wrong to want to kill the little punk that gave Soph the chickenpox?"

"Not that I'm condoning violence as the solution to any situation but if you're looking to take out a hit on this pestilence spreading menace, I know a guy, who knows a guy that works in a butcher shop that could take care of your _problem_." The girl's teasing voice quickly soothes Quinn's frayed nerves, until she hears another female's voice in the background.

"_Hey babe_, _I've gotta run I just caught a new case._" a sexy whiskey toned voice interrupts their conversation and Rachel asks Quinn to hold for a moment while she walks her guest to the door, "_See you tomorrow?" _

Quinn gnashes her teeth in a fruitless attempt to tamper down the red hot flare of an all too familiar emotion churning in her stomach. Soft moans and the unmistakable sounds of hungry kisses carries through the phone, further exasperating her annoyance.

"Mmm, definitely." Rachel agrees in a breathy whisper. '_Did Rachel forget that she's on the phone while making out with that woman?' _Quinn wonders

"_Bye, gorgeous_."

"Goodnight Jane, be safe." Rachel closes her door, securing the locks and chain then returns to her call. "Still there, Quinn?"

"Um, yeah…sorry, I didn't know I was interrupting anything."

"You're not, Jane was just called into work, apparently a double homicide takes priority over post-coitus snuggling." Rachel chuckles at her own joke, Quinn attempts to do the same but the sound comes out a bit more strangled and false. If Rachel noticed the difference, she doesn't bring it up, to Quinn's relief. "What are you still doing up this late?"

"I couldn't sleep, Sophia's been running a fever and itching like crazy all day. I finally got her to sleep but now I'm too worried to nod off."

"Poor baby." Rachel coos. Quinn can't tell if she's referring to her or her daughter but she takes the sentiment with a smile, just the same.

"Tell me a story." Quinn demands, stifling a yawn.

"Alright…um," Rachel thinks for a moment, getting more comfortable in bed and propping her arm up onto a pillow to better position her iPhone against her ear. "There once was this Sparrow that was suppose to fly south for the winter but he was a bit absentminded and lost track of his flock. He got stuck in the middle of a terrible blizzard and he couldn't see which direction he was suppose to fly, after a while he grew tired of this fruitless endeavor and fell to the ground, covered in snow he was virtually a little birdie popsicle. When the storm past a cow wandered by and defecated on him, gross I know, but the warmth from the manure melted away the ice and the Sparrow was so happy that he began to sing. But he was still stuck in the smelly mess, until a wolf happened by and licked all of the poo away. Before the bird had a chance to thank the wolf for freeing him, the wolf _ate_ the Sparrow. Now, the moral of the story is, 'not everyone who shits on you is your enemy and not everyone who cleans you off is your friend.'"

There's a long pause, then Quinn's laughter bursts through the phone causing Rachel to pull it away from her ear.

"Okay the only question in my mind right now is 'what type of F-ed up nursery rhymes did your folks tell you when you were a kid?'"

"What," the brunette indignantly sputters, "I think that the Sparrow story is a very accurate account of how society portrays…"

"It's an F-ed up story, Rach." Quinn declares once again and she can clearly picture the pout on her friend's face.

"Well the next time you request a bedtime tale be sure to ask for one that isn't socially conscious."

"Fine, no more bedtime stories. So what's the deal with you and this…woman?" Quinn masochistically inquires but making a great effort not to speak the woman's name. "Puck said that she was _a lot _older than you."

"Not even by a decade," Rachel huffs in aggravation

"You know you're spending too much time with Puck, when you start chasing cougars."

"For your information, Jane has barely turned 28 _and_ she is a very beautiful and lovely person."

"Who can very distinctly remember the 80's."

"You're being obnoxious, maybe I should hang up and let you get some rest."

"Sorry, it's just been a really long day." Quinn quickly backtracks when she realizes she's gone from playful teasing to…well, sort of a jealous bitch.

"Forgiven, would it help you relax if I told you another story?"

"I swear Rachel, if this is the tale of the Tortoise and the Scorpion…" Rachel's silence confirms that she was indeed thinking of that story or maybe one similar. Quinn decides to change the subject before Rachel can gear up to launch into another tirade. "How's the Shelby situation going?"

"Incidentally, the Shelby situation is just another long chapter of a disinteresting pulp fiction novel." Rachel sighs, ruefully. "She's desperate to prove to me that she isn't the scourge of the universe, while I pretend not to die a little inside each time my biological mother dangles a possible relationship in front of my face, only to yank it away at the most poignant moment."

"Jeez Rach, that's way too much drama, even for you." Damn, the words come out snarkier than Quinn intended and she silently scolds herself, '_I'm like 0-2 tonight, where the hell is my A game?'_

"She just…I've survived nearly two decades without a mom and after years of utter silence, she just comes crashing into my life with all of these unrealistic expectations of us being one big happy family. As much as I want to be angry with her for throwing me away twice before…"

"You really just want her to be your mom." Quinn answers. She knows from personal and very painful experience, what it's like to yearn for your mother's unconditional love. Judy Fabray has always been a distant and reserved woman. If it weren't for the fact that she can ingest half a bottle of bourbon each night, Quinn would have thought her mother was a robot. Maybe she's a cyborg, that would explain a lot.

"That day at Regionals, she just stood there, calmly pouring cream into her coffee while I begged her to love me. If Shelby didn't want me then, why now? Santana said it's probably only because I'm doing well out here…"

"No! I'll admit the timing is a bit suspect but there's probably a really good reason why she felt that way back then and it has nothing to do with your growing success."

"Maybe," Rachel quietly ruminates on her mother's motives for a reunion. "Quinn, can we shelve this for now? I feel like we're repeating the same thing over and over and I'm no closer to a plausible answer than I was the first dozen times I've thought about her."

"If you're sure, I'm willing to execute yet another topic change."

"I'm positive."

"Alright…so um, what are you wearing?" the line is deadly silent for a moment and then Rachel's melodic laughter filters through the phone, bringing a very accomplished smile to Quinn's face.

"Unbelievably cheezy Fabray."

"I try."

* * *

"I'm really glad I decided to come back here for the summer." Santana murmurs into Brittany's shoulder as the pair lay naked in her bed.

She lives for moments like this, just the two of them holed up in her room, shutting out the rest of the world. It's one of the few times that Santana will allow her guard to fall completely, showing Brittany just how much she truly loves her and speaks candidly about her emotions. But it's also the time when Santana will really tell Britt what she's thinking, 79 percent of the time it's not good.

"You weren't going to come back home?"

"Hadn't planned on it." the Latina casually shrugs, clueless to her bedmates heart rate increasing anxiously. "Most of our friends were staying in the city , either to work or just try to make a few contacts with some of the smaller theaters, so there were plenty of people to hang with. My academic advisor got me this sweet internship with a major talent agency but that doesn't start until the fall and when Mami said she needed someone to babysit my jackoff brother Pedro while she and Papi worked…" she trails off with another shrug.

Brittany bites down hard on her bottom lip, grateful that Santana can't see the pained expression on her face. That confirms it, she bitterly scoffs in her head, San didn't come back home in hopes of seeing her. She simply had nothing else better to do this summer and as always, Brittany was just a convenient lay. Come September, Santana will pack up her things and go back to her life in New York with all of her new friends and that girl Brittany knows she's been sleeping with. That is what hurts her the most, Santana absolutely refused to publicly acknowledge the true nature of their relationship for years, but the second she steps foot in New York the brunette has no issue with openly dating another girl.

These thoughts leave Brittany feeling cheap and used. Turning over onto her side, she faces away from the other girl who's drifting off to a peaceful slumber, completely ignorant to the silent tears cascading down Brittany's face.

Slipping back into her house the next morning when she's sure her folks are off at work, Santana's contemplating doing a few laps in her backyard pool and listening to some music until Brittany gets off of work at 3. Suddenly she is grabbed from behind and unceremoniously tossed onto the couch. She looks up at her assailant, trying to recall a special on the Discovery Channel about how to turn your shoe into a deadly weapon but calms marginally when she sees Quinn and Puck standing over her.

"You two have a death wish?" she growls. Quinn, unthreatened by Santana's attempts at intimidation, simply holds up her phone and tells the person on the line to begin.

"_Santana_," Rachel's voice on loud speaker calmly begins, "_Noah, Quinn and myself are gathered here because we believe that you are headed down a very slippery slope from which you may not be able to recover. And as your closest friends and confidants, we have chosen this moment to intervene to prevent you from falling into undesirable consequences. _"

Santana blinks numbly at her stoic friends in front of her and Rachel's disembodied voice over the phone

"An intervention?" she shrieks in disbelief, "You three dumbasses are staging a fucking intervention, what the hell for?"

"Fuckin' told you this was stupid." Puck gripes. Discreetly he takes a step back because Santana has her '_Nut Punchin' _face on and one can never be too careful when it comes to the family jewels.

"_Noah please, we need to maintain an united front if we have any chance in helping Santana overcome her addiction_."

"What fucking addiction?" When the shock wears off, it becomes all too clear what her friends are referring to. "Oh, I get it, this is about me and Britt, huh? Well you know what? You assholes suck and you need to stay the hell out of my business…"

"Santana, we're just trying to look out for you, after what happened the last time you two broke up…"

"We're not going to break up, Quinn. Things are different, _we're_ different and once Brittany moves to New York with me, everything is gonna be fine."

"So you're planning to stick this thing out?" Quinn skeptically questions

"Yeah, I am. Me and Britt…look I've been planning this for a while." crossing her arms defensively over her chest, Santana leans back on the couch avoiding eye contact as she reveals her very thought out plan to her astonished friends.

"Oh, so I guess you didn't need us up in your shit after all." Puck laughs, comfortable enough to join Santana on the couch now that she doesn't look like she wants to rip his balls off for meddling.

"You know, I get why Q is here and even Rach teleconferencing in isn't as weird as it should be. But what I don't get is why the hell do you care who I'm sleeping with, Puck?"

"For some reason, I'm always knee deep in all of you guys drama, I'm like the '_Lesbian_ _Whisperer_' or something." He shrugs, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and making himself at home.

A/N: Hate to end it here but it was getting pretty long and since I have the next chapter already typed up, I'll post it soon. Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Bring Me Home

Disclaimer: I don't own it

Chapter 7: And Everybody Bleeds This Way

This fic started out as a Brittana story but Faberry has quickly taken over, so I've decided to post it under Rachel/Quinn on . And for those of you who have inquired, yes I have relocated Detective Jane Rizzoli for this story, she is awesome and rounds out the top three 'Hot Cops' hall of fame with Detectives Kate Beckett and Olivia Benson. But alas, Jane is merely on loan and will be returned to Dr. Isles shortly.

The thing that sucks most about the Summer, besides Lima's unbearable heat waves, who the hell knew it could actually break 100 degrees in fucking Ohio?, is that there is always someone hanging around her house. Sure her parents both work full time jobs so they're gone most of the day but Santana's ass-wipe brother Pedro, has magically acquired like a dozen friends and the little demons have designated the Lopez's residence their summer party hub.

Santana had big plans to spend Brittany's day off lounging in bed, only getting up to do pesky things like use the bathroom or make peanut butter and fluff sandwiches to refuel their lovemaking. Leave it to Pedro to toss a wrench in her carefully thought out plans. By the fourth time Pedro knocked on her closed bedroom door, Santana was contemplating fratricide, had it not been for Brittany's quick thinking and tying the Latina to her bedpost, she's almost certain that they would be sharing a cell in the county lockup.

When Carlotta Lopez finally arrived home at 3:32 pm, Santana had her overnight bag already packed and practically sprinted across the room to get to the exit, dragging an amused Brittany behind her.

Brittany's house was always so much better suited to have sex at anyway. Her parents were almost always gone and even when they were home, Brittany's bedroom is on the third floor, far removed from her parents room so they could generally be as loud as they wanted.

Picking up right where the pair left off, Santana wastes no time stripping Brittany down and climbing under the colorful unicorn sheets. They continue to kiss, desire spreading through her body like wild fire. Santana's mouth tracing a torturous path down the blonde's trembling body. Digging her heels deeper into the plush pillow top mattress, Brittany throws her head back emitting a low growl as Santana's tongue ruthlessly swipes at her core. Her hips are thrusting off of the bed so Santana wraps a hand around her milky thigh to hold the girl in place. Brittany threads her fingers into luxurious black tresses, her nails scraping against Santana's scalp urging her tongue in as far as it can go.

Even though they are safely tucked away in Brittany's refurbished attic bedroom, Santana's grateful that Brittany's folks are staying overnight in Cleveland visiting relatives. She knows she should at least _try_ to quiet her girl's moaning so as not to alert Brittany's thirteen year old sister to what they're doing, but Brittany's calling out her name, begging for more and Santana loses any and all thoughts that don't include getting the blond off.

Two hours later, they collapse in an exhausted boneless heap of limbs, gasping for breath and waiting for the room to stop spinning. Santana smiles, brushing a strand of hair off of Brittany's sweaty forehead and decides that now it the perfect moment.

"I have a surprise for you." reaching over the side of the bed, Santana rummages through her purse and produces a small bright blue box with a shiny silver bow.

Brittany cautiously accepts the box at Santana's insistence, tugging at the bow she lifts the lid off to reveal two metal objects carefully perched on a cushion of cotton.

"They're um…keys?" Brittany scrunches her nose in confusion.

"Not just any keys. Rachel mailed me the keys to our apartment yesterday and the first thing I did was go to Home Depot to make a copy." Santana grins at her girl.

"Oh, well that's a good idea, do you remember when I used to lose my keys all of the time. My dad even found them on top of the roof once," she shakes her head, laughing at her sometimes ditzy behavior, "I still don't know how they got up there."

"Idiot Puck threw them up there to try to scare your cat down but no, these aren't a spare set. These are _your_ keys to _our_ apartment in New York." Santana carefully enounces, putting a heavy emphasis on those particular pronouns. "I already talked with Rach and she said it was cool, actually she gave some long winded speech about maintaining a healthy monogamous relationship, that I stopped listening to halfway through but she's cool with you moving in."

"You want me to move to New York with you? S…" Brittany sighs dolefully.

"This is what I wanted before, back in high school." Santana earnestly pushes forward. She never got the chance to have this talk with Brittany before and all of the feelings that had been building up inside of her since that day in the library were finally seeping through. "When I applied to Columbia you were suppose to go to college there too. Well not Columbia but I checked out a bunch of schools in the area, I had it all figured out but then…"

"But then we broke up because you didn't want to tell people we were dating."

"Things are different now Britt, Rachel and I have our own apartment, you can move in with us. You're gonna _love_ New York, it's big and noisy, there's plenty of clothing stores and funky little boutiques, you'll find a job in no time. The best part about it is that we can be together, _really_ together walking down the streets holding hands, kissing in the middle of Washington Square Park and _nobody cares_. No one really gives a shit Brittany it's like…like being free. We can finally live the life we always wanted, far away from fucking Lima."

It's a beautiful picture she's painting and it's almost enough to convince Brittany to pack her bags right this second but then reality sneaks back in and she's forced to face the veracity of her existence.

"I never said that, it was you and Quinn and Puck and Rachel that was always so desperate to leave Lima, _not_ me. This is where we grew up San, this is where my family lives, it's where I'm gonna raise a family one day."

"How can you possibly…Brittany, _Everyone_ wants to leave Lima." Santana stresses.

"If that were true then no one would live here, would they?"

"Don't do that weird Brittany philosophical shit with me! I know you, I've always known you Britt, you don't really want to stay here, I mean _really_. This town is so…you're scared okay. I get that I was scared too when I first left, I was alone and missing you like crazy and New York was just this huge cold city but then I met up with Rachel and we became tight and I found my footing after awhile." She closes her eyes, stamping down the awful memories of her first month at Columbia. "But you won't have to go through all of that cause you'll already have me. And Rachel lives there too and Puck _thinks_ he lives there and I even got Quinn to agree to visit, so you see it'll be great. You just have to give us a try Britt, please you gotta try, for me baby. You didn't even give us a chance last time."

"Babe…I…my parents…" Brittany haltingly tries to explain but Santana plows on in her pitch.

"Is it money you're worried about? Well don't, Rachel and I both have part time work lined up for the fall and like I said, you'll find a job in no time and if you want, there are a ton of dance schools in the city. You can take a few classes or Hell maybe even teach a dance class, you're an amazing dancer. As a matter of fact, Rachel's grandmother was talking about the dance instructor at the Jewish Community Center in our neighborhood who was planning to leave soon. Bubby Tovah has pull with that crowd, she can get you a job, granted it'll be teaching a bunch of geezers how to do the foxtrot without breaking a hip but it's still work, right?"

"Stop! Stop planning my life for me, you always do that Santana." Brittany throws her hands up, completely exasperated with where this discussion is headed. "I'm not stupid, I won't get lost if you're not holding my hand when we cross the street, so just stop!"

"I'm …I've _never_ thought or treated you like you're stupid, Brittany." Santana recoils, slightly hurt that Brittany would ever accuse her of such a thing. Maybe she has sheltered Britt too much from their peers hateful taunts over the years but not once has she ever thought those things about her friend. "I just…we had plans!"

"No S, _you_ had plans, _you_ decided we were leaving our home. You decided that Lima wasn't good enough for _you_. Did you ever stop to think that maybe this is where _I'm_ suppose to be? Did you even _ask_ me if I wanted to leave?"

"Brittany, I can't stay here, we can be together, anywhere but here." clasping Brittany's hands in her own, Santana stares into teary blue eyes, seeing the answer before the other girl speaks it. "I really can't believe you're pulling this shit again. I can't believe I…" she trails off, dropping Brittany's hand and rising from the bed to pace the room.

"We're not kids anymore, San. And anyway it's like you always said, '_Sex isn't dating'_."

"Haha," Santana laughs bitterly as those words were carelessly tossed back in her face. She angrily stalks to the other side of Brittany's bed, snatching her clothes up off of the floor and pulling them on with jerky movements. She stumbles, almost taking a nosedive as she tries to cram her foot into her sneaker, the shoe's tongue impeding her foot from sliding in all the way. It's a little uncomfortable but it'll have to do for now, she'll fix it once she gets to her car. "you know what? Fuck it, I'm through! You can rot in this bum-fuck town for the rest of your life if that's what you really want. Just don't expect me to do the same," she's halfway out of the door then spins around to face a crestfallen looking Brittany for what may be the last time. Brittany looks at her with those sad wounded eyes that used to make Santana's chest ache and her temper explode when someone else caused the blond pain. But now, there's just this hollow throbbing where her heart used to be. "I tried to help you, now I'm just…I'm done."

Those final parting words and the deaden look in Santana's dark eyes are something that will relentlessly haunt Brittany for many years to come.

* * *

Signing the last autograph with a happy exclamation point and a parting wave, Rachel reaches into her purse for her phone. She gives goodbye kisses to the guys playing '_Moist_' and _'Bad Horse' _and just as she's about to text Jane to ask where they're meeting for a late dinner, the object in her hands begins to ring.

"Hey San, how…"

"_My flight gets in at 2:15 a.m." _Santana says without preamble_. "can you pick me up from JFK?" _

The sheer devastation in her friend's voice immediately has warning signals blaring in Rachel's head. Whatever is upsetting Santana, Rachel instinctively knows it has to do with the one thing in this world that brings the Latina so much joy as well as enough pain to crush her soul; Brittany. She hesitates for a minute, wanting to ask for the details so she can assess the damage and form a battle plan to help rebuild their broken relationship but then she hears the hitch in Santana's breathing through the phone and knows that the Latina is barely holding it together.

"Sure, I'll get my grandmother's car. Meet you at baggage claim?"

"_Thanks Rach_."

* * *

"Britt, what's going on?" Quinn asks in a stage whisper. The second Brittany opens the door she barges straight into the house gently depositing Sophia onto the couch so as not to wake the sleeping toddler. "I just got a call from Rachel, she said Santana is taking the red-eye back to New York. What the hell?"

"We broke up…again." Brittany quietly admits. Her puffy red eyes are planted firmly on the floor so she doesn't have to see the exasperated look on Quinn's face. "For good this time."

"But why, I mean I thought you two had worked everything out, S said she was fully committed to making it work this time so…"

"She wanted me to move with her to New York."

"Yeah, so…?"

"I can't just leave home Quinn." Brittany turns and heads into the kitchen with a very confused Quinn hot on her heels.

"No offense Britt but what exactly is tying you down here in Lima?"

"I thought _you_ of all people would understand Q, I mean what would you do if Rachel asked you to drop everything and move to another state with her?"

"Wha," Quinn sputters in complete shock and an equal amount of excited fear, "why would Rachel ask me to move in with her. That's ridiculous!"

Brittany just rolls her eyes, if Quinn was happy playing the dumb blonde role when it came to her _real_ feelings for the burgeoning Broadway star, then who was she to pull the curtains back and make Quinn face the truth?

"Look everyone knows that you and Santana are like made for each other. If I ever thought that true love existed then it would be what you guys have, as destructive and co-dependant as it may often appear." she mutters that last past under her breath but Brittany still heard her clearly. "Whatever, it works for you and it's worth fighting for Britt, so give me one good reason why you can't be together?"

"My mom is sick," the words bring on a fresh batch of tears and Brittany takes several deep breathes before plowing ahead, "there's something wrong with her heart. The doctors are talking about surgeries and she won't be able to work for a while. My dad needs me here, Quinn."

"Oh God Britt, why didn't you say anything sooner," Quinn immediately engulfs her friend in a hug, feeling like a total jackass for chewing the girl out over relationship issues when Brittany has _real _problems to deal with, "and why didn't you just tell S?"

"Cause she would have stayed, Santana hates it here. She would give up Columbia if I asked her to and I can't…" her voice finally cracks under all of this strain and she let's Quinn rub soothing circles on her back, desperately wishing that she were in someone else's comforting embrace.

"Whatever you need Britt, I'm right here, always."

_I need Santana._

* * *

Rachel barely pulls her grandmother's Buick onto the 278 expressway before the first in a long line of gut wrenching sobs escape from Santana's throat. She's seen the Latina cry before, once when Sue Sylvester was so depressed that she cancelled Cheerleading right before Nationals. Once when glee club sang 'To Sir, With Love' to Schue and once when Brittany's cat died and the quirky blond made the club attend Mr. Mostly Mittens' funeral. But those tears were miniscule in comparison to what Rachel was now witnessing.

She nearly side-swipes three cars in her haste to make it to the highway's shoulder and after throwing the car in park, leans over to offer comfort to her friend. Seventeen minutes later and with no end to the wretched sobbing in sight, Rachel does the only thing she knows for certain that could possibly calm the miserable girl; singing.

Breathe in, breathe out,

Tell me all of your doubts,

And everybody bleeds this way,

Just the same

Breathe in, breathe out,

Move on and break down,

If everyone goes away I will stay

We push and pull,

And I fall down sometimes,

I'm not letting go,

You hold the other line.

Cause there is a light, in your eyes, in your eyes

Breathe in and Breathe out

Breathe in and Breathe out

Breathe in and Breathe out

A/N: sad I know, and it'll probably get worst before it gets better. The song is 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' by Mat Kearney. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, story alerted and just simply read this, sorry it's taken so long to post but I moved last week and between school starting and unpacking, I've been super exhausted!


	8. Chapter 8

Bring Me Home

A/N: I am so sorry for the delay, this is pretty short but I'm making an effort to get updates out to help motivate me to write more. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Make My Heart A Better Place

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Fox

In hindsight, her abrupt departure from Lima and away from all things Brittany may not have been the best thought out plan. Santana comes to this realization when she and Rachel finally arrive back at their apartment in the Bronx and she drags her exhausted body into her _empty_ bedroom. Standing in the doorway and staring at the spot on the shiny hardwood floor where her bed would have been placed at the end of the summer, Santana wants to slap herself for the very histrionic Berryesque evacuation from Ohio, sans furniture.

"Come on, you can sleep in my room." Rachel quietly offers, touching the small of Santana's back and leading her to the open bedroom door further down the hall.

"Hang on I wanna take a shower first, that freaking plane smelled like stale farts, I need to wash the stench off before I puke." Santana grumbles, squatting down to the floor she rummages through her suitcase for her pj's and toiletries.

"Alright, the bathroom is right across the hall. I've already stocked it with towels and that Dove exfoliating body wash you like." Rachel pauses for a minute to study the other brunette. Its obvious that Santana's had a really long day, the signs of emotional distress painted clearly on her usually blank features. She decides to give it a rest for the night, when or if Santana needs to talk, Rachel will make sure she knows she has a shoulder to cry on again.

* * *

"Jesus Christ Superstar! It looks like a Raymour & Flanigan showroom in here." Santana stands at the foot of the large bed to take in the deep red padded headboard, bedding, curtains and the dark polished furnishings. Rachel even managed to somehow squeeze an antique full length mirror _and_ a leather chaise lounge into her bedroom.

"My grandmother said the exact same thing when we finished decorating last week," the brunette rolls her eyes in exasperation "she practically had to hide my debit card to keep me from furnishing the rest of the apartment without your input."

Santana gives an amused snort, knowing Rachel and Tovah Berry like she does, then that particular conversation was probably one hell of a diva match. Running a hand through her dark wet hair, Santana warily eyes the king size bed.

"You sure it's okay for me to sleep in here?"

"Santana, I wouldn't have offered if I felt uncomfortable about us sharing a bed."

"Just making sure," she climbs into bed, holding up here hands in surrender "don't want you're cougar to get pissed if she comes a knocking and finds me curled up around your body pillow."

"I'm certain Jane would be understanding." Rachel primly responds, avidly choosing once again to ignore the mocking of Jane's age. "That's just one of the many advantages of dating a mature woman."

"Chick's packin heat, s'all I'm saying and she looks like the _shoot first ask questions later_ type. You'll at least let me get a head-start, right?"

"Don't worry, _I'll cover you_." Rachel softly sings, then giggles when her bedmate burrows her head beneath the pillows.

"Ugh, don't start that annoying shit again." Santana groaned into the mattress, causing Rachel to laugh harder.

This was one of the dorkier games they came up with one rainy spring day spent lounging around Rachel and Aubrey's dorm room. Bored yet too lethargic to actually do anything besides drinking vanilla vodka straight from the bottle. So they started making up games, the only one that required a minimum of physical exsertion was singing lines from musicals and songs that just so happen to fit into their current conversation. Rachel, being a theater major was a pro but she was surprisingly impressed when Santana showed her aptitude for the ridiculous game as well, though she often tried to deny it.

"I'm gonna…"

"You're going to …?" Rachel jokingly challenged, just a year ago those words would have been enough to strike fear into the tiny brunette's heart. But after really getting to know Santana, Rachel has learned how to distinguish between real threats and Santana's dark form of teasing.

"Yeah, think of a horrible punishment and insert it here."

* * *

"Good Morning roomie." Rachel chirps, pulling back the curtains to allow the bright summer sun to infiltrate her bedroom.

"How the hell are you this damned chipper after only a few hours of sleep?" Santana grumbles, turning away from the invasive sunlight her roommate just exposed the darkened room to, "What've you been doing, freebasing Red Bull?"

"Don't be a grouch Santana, besides you can't freebase Red Bull just cocaine." Rachel calls matter-of-factly over her shoulder.

"I'm almost tempted to ask why it is you know that but yesterday was a terrible, horrible no good very bad day and all I wanna do is sleep it off."

"Perhaps if you had paid attention in Chemistry instead of…" damn! Rachel reprimands herself, she had almost said 'If you had paid attention in Chemistry instead of feeling Brittany up under the lab table' and from the sudden stiffening of Santana's shoulders, the Latina knew where that statement was headed.

"I was too excited to sleep," deftly changing the subject, Rachel roots around in her dresser searching for her workout clothes. "I have to meet up with the coordinators for the Broadway On Broadway concert later today. I've already finished my morning run but I was thinking we can go to the gym for a quick workout. There's a boxing class that starts in half an hour, you can hit something and release all of that pent up rage."

Half of Santana's head timidly ventures from beneath the pillow, her interest mildly peaked, "I do like to hit stuff."

"And after our workout, I'll buy you one of those protein shakes that totally negates the calories you just burned off."

"Alright, I'm in." Santana crawls out of bed suddenly wide awake and heads towards the bathroom.

"Funny that all it takes to pull you out of a funk is the promise to punch something and then get your shake on."

"Well have you tried the peanut butter banana explosion, shits awesome!"

* * *

The door drifting open with a resounding creak barely registers to the blond laying flat on her back, staring unseeingly at the vaulted ceiling of her room.

"It's almost eight." a pre-teen blond girl huffs in aggravation at being ignored by her older sister. "I'm going to miss my bus for camp."

"So don't go to camp today." Brittany sullenly replies.

"Papa said you had to make me breakfast."

"You know how to pour cereal in a bowl."

"Fine," the girl stamps her foot, annoyed at her sister's lack of response to her dilemma, "but you still have to take me to the drop off and I can't be late. _You_ of all people know how wacked Coach Sylvester is, if I miss the bus to cheer camp she'll probably make me run alongside of the highway the entire 33 miles to the campsite."

"S'the price you pay for being at the top of the social ladder." One in a very long list of sacrifices that Brittany herself made in order to not become the target of malicious bullying in high school. The second you slip on that red and white uniform you check your soul at the door and pledge unwavering devotion to Sue Sylvester.

Kortney turns her head to the side, curiously studying her older sister's apathetic behavior.

"What's with you Britt, you've been sulking in here ever since Santana stormed outta here yesterday?"

"Nothing, it's none of your business."

"Yeah well, you being all emo over her is cutting into my breakfast and making me late, so it _is_ my business now." placing a hand on her hip, Kortney tosses her blond hair and impatiently waits for Brittany to drag her butt out of bed.

After four whole minutes of her younger sister boring a hole into her head waiting for either juicy gossip or for Brittany to get up, Britt kicks her blanket off of her legs and rolls off of the bed.

"Fine, go grab your water bottle and meet me at the car."

"What about breakfast?"

"Trust me," Brittany calls over her shoulder as she heads to the bathroom, "breakfast is the last thing you'll want on the first day of Sue Sylvester's Cheerio Boot Camp. Montana Andrews made the mistake of eating a big breakfast one year and she ended up puking halfway through the first round of suicides."

* * *

The rest of the summer passes by in a blur for Santana. She spends most of her mornings sleeping off a hangover and trying to remember the name of the girl currently sharing her bed. By noon she's managed to dispatch of her latest conquest, endure an hour of Rachel staring disapprovingly at her over a quiet lunch in their favorite café, then take a walk around the neighborhood before heading back to the apartment to sleep until sundown.

With Rachel working two shows a day, Santana is left alone with only her disturbing thoughts for company. It's during these walks that she runs that last argument with Brittany over and over again in her mind trying to pinpoint the exact moment when it all went to hell. She knows that she wasn't imagining things, Brittany still cares for her, maybe even still loves her. Somewhere around the time that they had fallen back into bed and old co-dependant habits, she lost herself completely and left herself wide open for disaster.

Shaking thoughts of her former love from her head, Santana stops at the deli on the corner to catch the eye of the cute Russian girl who works afternoons. A couple of flirty smirks and Nadia is sliding over here number, ensuring that Santana will have something to occupy her lonely night.


	9. Chapter 9

Bring Me Home

Disclaimer: characters are the property of Fox

A/N: It has been brought to my attention that I suck for not updating sooner, lol. I really wanted to get this chapter right because it kind of sets the tone for the rest of the story. I've read and re-written this chapter so many times, mainly whenever a random line would pop into my head and I need to post it so that I can move on to my other fics. Luckily inspiration struck me today and I managed to piece this thing together, hopefully you guys are still interested.

Chapter 9: Trippin On A Hole In A Paper Heart

_You've got a new girlfriend_

_But I still love you_

_I can't stand the thought of her_

_Having a piece of you_

_What she got that I don't?_

_What she do that I won't?_

_You must be blind_

_Take a good look at her _

_She's not your kind_

_After all we've been through_

_I'm devoted to you_

_I'm Jealous, I'm jealous_

_I'm jealous out of my mind_

'_This is seriously fucked!_', Quinn thinks to herself. Sitting in the smoky lounge of Lima's only bowling ally listening to Brittany pour her heart and soul into that old _Divinyls_ song. Quinn rolls her eyes at her friends Tina and Mercedes, who are stupidly cheering the blond on, clueless to the real reasons behind the latest Brittany/Santana split. This one is definitely the worst yet, easily overriding the breakup back in senior year and their first real fight after Santana lost her virginity to Puck.

This time there will be no reconciliations a week later with both girls linking their pinkies together as they walk down the halls a half step behind Quinn, sharing secret smiles. This time feels…permanent, and the worst part is that it didn't seem unfixable until Quinn received that doofus Finn Hudson's helpful little mass emailed picture of Santana and Rachel at that party the previous night.

_And it hurts, it hurts right here_

_In my heart, is a bloody tear_

_I thought that you were so sincere_

_You got what you wanted_

_Then you got outta here!_

_You got a new girlfriend_

"Sing it, girl!" Mercedes shouts, saluting her illegally obtained fruity cocktail towards the stage in a misguided show of solidarity.

'_Why in God's name did I agree to come out with these morons tonight?_', Quinn questions herself again but one glance at the completely broken look on Brittany's face as she drunkenly dances through the guitar solo is all the explanation she needs. There was absolutely no way Quinn could, in good conscience, leave an emotionally wounded Brittany in Tina and Mercedes' hands. There's no telling what those two would have talked the blonde into doing in a desperate attempt to seek revenge on Santana.

Even after three hours of assuring Brittany that the photo of Rachel, Santana and a random celebutaunt who was practically giving the Latina a lap dance during a party held at the Essence Hotel, there was nothing more going on. But Brittany wasn't fooled, or Quinn wasn't very convincing, either way Brittany was still crushed to know that Santana was being very open about her sexuality in New York, while still refusing to do the same in Lima.

_I'm jealous, out of my mind_

Brittany ends the song with an abundance of applause and catcalls from the smoky lounge and as she slinks off of the stage and back to their table, Quinn quickly stands to intercept her reach for her Corona.

"Hey!"

"It's getting late Britt, I'll drive you home okay?" It's not really a question, Quinn puts on her best 'mom-face' and even through her beer haze Brittany knows she should be cut off.

"It's only like, 11:30." Mercedes protests

"'S fine, I got stuff to do tomorrow." Brittany pouts the entire time Quinn helps her into her jacket. "It was fun jamming with you guys though."

"Night." Tina and Mercedes calls over their shoulders as they turn back to the stage, ready to start making fun of the next performer.

Making it to her car without incident, Quinn checks Brittany to gauge what level of drunkness she's reached. The sour look on the other blonde's face is beginning to make her nervous.

"You're not gonna puke are you?" Quinn asks warily.

"When I went with my mom to the doctor's the other day, this really cute guy asked me out." Brittany quietly confesses. "He's one of those…what do you call them? Doctor's in training?"

"Interns?"

"Yeah, one of those. He was nice, tried to take my mind off of the kazillion tests they were putting my mom through. I almost said yes but then I thought about…I thought about _Her_ and I just couldn't mess around with someone so soon. It just still feels raw, you know?"

"Britt." Quinn begins but the other blond shakes her head furiously, silently begging her not to give another pitiful, 'It'll all work out in the end' speech.

"She made her choice Q. We both did and now I just have to make the best of it." sighing morosely, Brittany slouches down in her seat, letting the soothing motion of the car drift her off to sleep.

* * *

"Seven, Bitches!" Puck exclaims as the two red dice come to a clattering halt, proclaiming the fireman the winner. He obnoxiously snatches his winnings out of the other boys hands and begins to count. "I'll be sure to have Soph write you all a thank you note for financing her vacation."

"Speaking of which," Artie grumbles, "don't you have packing to do or something that doesn't involve hustling your friends?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that you're like cheating or something." Finn pipes in. He looks down to his hand where he has only $13 left out of the $60 he walked into Artie's game room with.

"Finnessa, the day you actually start thinking is the day I become a celibate priest. That shit don't even sound right."

"Shut up, and roll." Finn snaps, elbowing Puck in the side to get the game back on track. "So…what are you and Quinn planning to do while you're in New York?"

"Same thing I usually do when I hit the city." Puck shrugs as he blows on the dice, cranking them in his palm and letting them fly across the floor. " 'cept less drinking cause my kid is with us but Rachel's nana is dying to babysit so we'll probably have time to hit all of those celebrity parties and shit that Rach gets invited to."

"But aren't they like…gay bars and stuff? You know, now that that's what she's into?" Scratching his head in confusion Finn is still unsure how Rachel Berry who was totally in love/obsession with him, is now dating girls or more specifically a woman.

"Even though Broadway is like 40% gay, not all of the functions she's gotta do are gay," Puck explains to his dimwitted friend with an eye roll. "like that party she was at last night for that reality show chick. Besides, the Puckzilla walks into a room and everybody's throwing their underwear at him!"

"Pause." Artie shouts, laughing the bespectacled boy high fives Mike, who's desperately trying not to shoot beer out of his nose from laughing so hard.

"Sit and spin, wheels!" Puck counters.

"So you've met Rachel's girlfriend?" Finn tries to inconspicuously ask but Puck and everyone else sees right through him.

"Don't man, just don't even think about going there." Puck warns, huffing in aggravation as he rolls an eight and Mike greedily snatches up the dice.

"Wha?..I didn't say anything, I was just asking…"

"I know what you were about to ask so let me just lay it down for you now. Leave. Berry. Alone. She's doing good, she's happy and she doesn't deserve to be dragged back into all of your bullshit man."

"My bullshit, oh so now you're forgetting shoving your tongue down MY girlfriend's throat like two seconds after we broke up!"

"Actually it was more like five seconds, you must be thinking about how you dumped Rach then tried to hook up with both Brittany _and_ Santana? Or maybe how you dumped Rachel yet again and then tried to break up Quinn and her latest Ken doll?"

"Don't try and act all innocent and stuff, Puck!" Finn yells, effectively ending the good natured game and pulling every eye in the room towards him. "We've been bro's for how long? I know all about the girls you've slept with and never looked at twice!"

"Yeah and every girl I slept with knew it was a one time thing, I didn't string any chick along for months, making promises I wouldn't keep and then shake them off whenever my popularity was in jeopardy. And I sure as fuck didn't send the girl I _supposedly_ loved some jacked up email about what a selfish cunt she was for bailing on a stupid singing competition!"

Both boys are standing face to face by now, Puck's chest heaving with pent up anger while Finn stares wide eyed, his mouth opening and closing but unable to come up with anything relevant to defend himself.

"Yeah, Lopez told me about the email you sent Rachel, you soulless prick."

"I…I didn't mean it…I was just…but she was the one…" the taller boy stammers but Puck just snorts in disgust.

"All Rachel asked of you was a little bit of loyalty, for you to back her up in public. But _nooo,_ you were too busy pole-riding Schuester who was so jealous of her talent and the fact that she would make it outta here, to act like an adult. Great fuckin role model Finn, no wonder you're doing so well now!"

Finn's jaw suddenly snaps shut, his face turns tomato red and he's grinding his teeth together so hard that Puck can practically picture sparks igniting between his molars. For a second Puck thinks he might have crossed the line. It's one thing to think someone is a Lima loser because they're still living in their small town aimlessly working a job that just barely allows them to scrap by. But it's a whole other ballgame to actually say it to that person's face, especially when said person confidentially told you that he failed the test to become a mechanic so his stepfather is letting him work without a license until he can take the exam again.

Puck swallows hard at the flicker of hurt embarrassment that flashes in his friend's eyes but then he remembers how Finn blew Rachel off every single time she tried to get him to study and seriously contemplate his future. But winning one championship game inflated Finn's ego to the point where he figured every college he applied for would fall at his feet to sign him. It was quite a rude awakening for the over confident teen when the most he was offered was a third string position at a Division 2 school.

Puck knew he couldn't really afford to attend college full time while trying to raise a child. Becoming a Fireman was the most logical solutions to his career dilemma and when he told Rachel that it wasn't simply because he'd get to work with fire and swing an ax, the tyrannical diva set up a grueling training schedule to get him in shape for the difficult exam.

"You got something you wanna say then say it Puck." Finn growls

"Uh guys, just chill alright." Artie tries to wheel himself between the two taller boys, hoping to diffuse the situation before either throws a punch,

"Nah Artie, Finn wants to talk about what a douche he is and I've been dying to get up in his ass for a while now."

"Pause." both Mike and Artie interject. Puck spares them a sneer before focusing back onto the boy in front of him.

"You know what? Screw this, I'm tired of trying to talk some sense into your dumbass head. I'll see you guys when I get back, later." He throws a nod towards Mike and Artie and doesn't even bother looking in Finn's direction as he gathers his winnings, heading for the stairs.

"That was fun." Artie drawls

Finn just stands there, gaping at the empty doorway his ex-best friend just passed through. It takes a minute for it to really sink in, all he did was ask about Rachel and then Puck's shouting at him and bringing up that stupid email he and Kurt sent to Rachel last year.

Truth be told he's not even sure exactly what the email contained. Finn had been excruciatingly drunk when his stepbrother brought up the topic of Rachel leaving them in the lurch so that she could run off to chase her dreams. A few well placed jabs and pokes at his insecurities and the next thing Finn knew he was sitting at Kurt's antique baroque desk, typing the hateful words that Kurt poured into his ear.

Man, he really was an idiot.

* * *

In the past, whenever Rachel would spot a couple heavily making out in public she would have rolled her eyes and not so subtlety hinted that that type of behavior was completely unnecessary. Not that she has anything against people showing affection for one another, it's simply a matter of propriety and publicly sucking face without regards to who may be watching, didn't seem like something good girls did.

But it's official, Rachel is a total hypocrite, or at the very least she has revised her standing point on public displays of affection. Staggering backwards out of the doors of the quaint little pub 'The Dirty Robber', and into the oppressive heat of a summer night in the city, Rachel nearly trips in her rarely worn five inch heels but Jane's steady arms catches her as she tumbles backward. They share a little chuckle before Jane crashes her lips to Rachel and successfully steers them through the doorway and out onto the street.

"Rachel?"

The sound of her name being called pulls Rachel out of the intoxicating trance of Jane's kisses. She turns to her left, her eyes taking a moment to focus, then widens in surprised discomfiture when they land on Shelby Corcoran.

"Shelby um, hi." Rachel squeaks

"Hello, I saw you from across the street. I almost didn't recognize you." The older brunette says coolly. Her dark brown eyes scans over her daughter's companion, she looks pointedly between the pair, lifting her strong jaw in question, awaiting an introduction.

Introducing her slightly tipsy pseudo girlfriend to her mother was definitely not the way Rachel envisioned telling Shelby she's gay. Come to think of it, Rachel hadn't planned to tell Shelby she was gay, straight or anything else. When Shelby abruptly cut off all contact so soon after moving mountains just to meet her, Rachel resigned herself to never having the chance to get to know her birth mother. Honestly, she doesn't owe Shelby a goddamn thing, let alone an introduction to the woman she's been sleeping with on a regular basis. But of course the universe has other plans and would select the _exact_ moment when Jane's hand surreptitiously slid up her thigh, for Rachel to run into Shelby and her fiancé.

"This is Jane Rizzoli," Rachel awkwardly motions to the woman still embracing her. "Jane, Shelby Corcoran and Robert Manning."

"Nice to meet you." Jane congenially offers, extending her hand towards the other woman. Shelby glances down at the hand, the look on her face clearly stating she saw where that hand had just been. Jane quickly retracts the offending limb, because 'duh this woman was totally not going to shake the appendage that was formerly caressing Rachel's ass'. She nods politely instead and clears her throat, desperate to stave off the blush that wants to conquer her olive complexion.

"Awkward." Rachel mumbles to herself. She licks her lips, the faint taste of strawberry lip gloss and Jane leaves her slightly enthralled for a moment. Long enough for an uncomfortable blanket of silence to settle upon the group.

"So, are you an actress as well Shelby?" Jane's question brings Shelby's eyes back onto her and the gaze penetrates her skull like a heat seeking missile.

Jane tries hard not to fidget, she's a badass detective for crying out loud. She's the one who makes perp's wet themselves, she doesn't get intimidated but there's something about the look this woman is giving her that makes Jane want to confess to some wrongdoing.

"Once upon a time." Shelby calmly answers, "but no, I'm _Shelby Corcoran_," she reiterates. "I'm Rachel's mother."

"Oh, I um didn't know you had a mother. I mean obviously, you had to have had a mother, it's just…" Jane stumbles over her words, completely mortified that she had just been caught making out with Rachel by her _mother_. That hasn't happened to her since high school and even then she had come up with a clever system to sneak around her overbearing mom.

"It's fine, I've never mentioned Shelby because she's not really my mother, she was the surrogate my dads hired to give birth to their embryo."

The clinical explanation of the 19 hours Shelby spent in excruciating pain to give life to the girl standing before her feels like a slap in the face. Never mind that it's kinda warranted what with the way she treated her daughter but still…ouch!

"Sweetie, I know that I didn't handle our reunion well. I suppose in my mind you were always this precious little baby that I carried for nine months and the only contact we ever had was you kicking excessively in my womb. I didn't mean to treat you like…""A set of old worn out tires that needed to be replaced with a brand new shiny pair?"

"Rachel!" Shelby practically shouts completely scandalized that her actions seemed so callous. "That is a horrible and totally untrue analogy."

"You're right, that was awful. Plenty of people stick with threadbare tires for months even though they are aware of the safety hazard. You barely knew me for a week before you decided I needed to be replaced." She lifts her hands to tuck her hair behind her ears but is enraged when she sees Shelby attempting the very same nervous gesture.

Years ago she would have celebrated their shared mannerisms but now all Rachel feels is sick to her stomach when she notes their similarities. Shelby told her once that she saw herself in Rachel, did Shelby _really_ dislike who she'd become so much so that the only way to change was to get rid of her living, breathing reminder.

"Rachel, I'll be the first to admit that I was ill equipped to be a mother to you. Even though I sought you out, I only had this abstract notion of us being a family. I failed to see the whole picture and when you were standing in front of me asking for advice that any _real_ mother would easily give, I realized…Rachel you had it wrong. I wasn't good enough for _you_."

"And you couldn't have come to this epiphany _before_ you sicced your lapdog on me?" Snorting derisively, Rachel turns on her heel, Jane's arm wrapped protectively around her waist is the only thing keeping her upright.

"Rachel, sweetie please don't walk away like this." Shelby's plea only serves to further raise the younger brunette's ire.

"Just consider this yet another ability my mother passed along to me, genetics really are remarkable."

If she wasn't so enraged by her bio-mother's confusing behavior, Rachel would have counted that as one of her 'Top 10 Diva Storm-off's'.

"I suppose you think that I was too harsh?" Rachel questions, they have been walking in silence for nearly five minutes and she was beginning to wonder if Jane thought her behavior towards Shelby was a bit over the top.

"Hey, no judgments." the taller brunette gives Rachel's hip a comforting squeeze, while flashing a crooked smile. "After all you've met my mom, I know how crazy family can make otherwise sane people go bonkers."

"Technically Shelby isn't my family" Rachel still feels the need to clarify that distinction. Though whether she's trying to convince Jane or herself of the difference she's still not sure. "My dads hired her to serve as a surrogate, once she completed her end of the agreement there wasn't suppose to be any further contact. Shelby was the one who violated the contract, she sought _me_ out and did a very piss-poor job of trying to unobtrusively infiltrate my life."

"Well, you know what's a great cure for dysfunctional family drama?"

Jane leads her into a darken alley, pressing Rachel up against the scratchy surface of the brick wall as her lips descend and her hands slowly make their way up under the singer's sinfully short skirt.

"This ally is highly unsanitary and anyone looking through their window can see us." Rachel weakly protests as Jane's long fingers inch inside of her panties.

"That's part of the appeal of semi-public sex." the husky voice whispers into her ear, punctuated by a moist tongue licking the shell of her ear and biting down on the lobe.

"Very well officer, shall I assume the position?"


	10. Chapter 10

Bring Me Home

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of Fox and Ryan Murphy.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who is still reading this story and everyone who took the time to review and add me to story alerts. I'll try my best to update more, I'm hoping to get a bit of inspiration once the season is over and they stop cramming Finchel down our throats! Plus, I'm going to see the Glee Live concert next month, I've got great seats and that's going to be all kinds of awesome!

Chapter 10: Baby Loves To Dance In The Dark

"Quinn, will you come here for a moment." Judy calls from the den. Quinn heads in the direction of her mother's voice, Sophia skipping along behind her but as she enters the pristinely decorated room, a cold wave of dread crashes over her body.

"Hello, Quinnie." the saccharine sweet voice of her older sister greets her combined with a phony smile.

"Chelsea, what a surprise." blinking back her irritation, Quinn gives an equally fake smile to the other blond.

"Isn't it nice Quinn, your sister decided to just drop in for a visit, she even brought the boys with her too." Quinn glances out of the window to see her unruly ADHD riddled nephews chopping away at her mother's prized rose bushes with their plastic _Lord of the Rings_ swords.

"Well isn't that just…swell." Quinn drawls "I'm sure you'll have oodles of fun catching up, mom I'll see you at the end of the month."

"Wait, where are you going?" Chelsea asks, annoyed that her little sister is so easily dismissing her presence.

"We're going to New York to visit Aunt Rachel!" Sophia exclaims, earning a disapproving frown from the other blond Fabray for speaking out of turn and calling a stranger her aunt. Not that she's ever acknowledged the girl as a _true_ member of her family, it's just the principal of the matter.

"Surely you're not still planning to leave now Quinn, your sister rarely visits. It'll be so wonderful to have all of my girls home again." Judy gushes, steadfastly ignoring the mounting tension in the room.

"Soph, why don't you go upstairs and make sure you have your favorite stuffed bunny to bring with us okay?"

"We can't forget Joel!" Sophia gasps and makes a beeline for her bedroom to ensure the stuffed animal isn't left behind.

Once the child is out of hearing range, Quinn turns back to her mother and sister sitting primly on the couch, each wearing identical Stepford smiles. Taking a deep breath to maintain her cool, she tries hard not to come off too hostile.

"Yes mother, I do intend to continue with my trip. Sophia has been ecstatic about visiting her Aunts Rachel and Santana and Puck had to cash in a ton of favors just to get two full weeks off of work."

"Humph, he couldn't get any of the other garbage men to cover his route?" Chelsea snorts in amusement. Quinn is ready to pounce on the woman and the corners of her mother's mouth twitching in mirth isn't helping matters at all.

"Puck is a _Fireman_, though I can see why you'd be confused, it's not every man that can work as a professional embezzler." Please that her jab hit the target accurately, Quinn folds her arms, patiently awaiting her sister's next verbal attack.

"Those charges were dropped, Troy had nothing to do with what his bosses were involved in and you very well know that, Quinn!" Chelsea seethes.

"Girls please, this was suppose to be a nice surprise lets not…"

"Sorry mom, Puck will be here any minute and I need to double check Sophia's bags before he arrives. I'll see you in a few weeks."

With a small parting wave, Quinn turns confidently on her heel and hurries back upstairs. Thanking every higher being in the universe that she has some place to escape to while her sister is visiting.

* * *

Jane purrs contently as the flexible younger brunette straddling her body peppers tender kisses to her neck. She runs her hands up and down Rachel's well toned thighs, urging the girl to continue the sweet torture.

"If I'd known this was the end result from years of studying dance I would've made more of an effort to support the arts."

Rachel chuckles, rotating her hips and moans at the sensation of the strap-on buried deep inside of her from Jane's early morning wake up call. A door slamming across the hall, footsteps creaking under the wooden floorboards and the muffled sounds of Santana curtly dismissing her latest conquest, breaks the serene atmosphere.

"Has she been drinking again?" Jane inquires, placing her hands on Rachel's waist to prevent her from distracting the detective from the conversation.

"Yes." Rachel hesitantly answers, not wanting to get her friend in trouble with the law yet finding it impossible to outright lie to the cop.

"Rach, you know I can't let this go on, even if she isn't using a fake ID to buy the liquor. Her behavior has been…"

"Admittedly, tossing a Frappuccino at a cabbie simply because he yelled at her for jaywalking in the middle of rush hour traffic was a tad bit melodramatic. And it still stands to reason that Santana had no idea that woman was married but really if the adulterous liar's husband is going to attempt to strike a woman he should prepare himself just in case that woman knows how to throw a punch." Rachel runs a hand through her tangled hair and takes a moment to reflect on the past couple of weeks. Helping Santana work through her issues is exhausting but she refuses to turn her back on her friend. "But Santana is only acting out because she is so deeply wounded by _She Who's Name Must Never Be Spoken's _rejection. Unbridled anger is a knee-jerk reaction for her. Just please, give me a couple more days to help Santana work through this. Noah and Quinn are arriving tonight, I'm absolutely certain that between the three of us we'll be able to get Santana to stop the binge drinking and tone down the iniquitous behavior."

Jane tilts her head to the side, heaving a sympathetic sigh for what the Latina has been going through the past few weeks.

"You left out the time Santana took a swing at another cab driver when he threw you guys out for puking in his cab."

"That was totally justified, his cab smelled like a three week old soiled diaper burning in a fish markets dumpster. Yes Santana was the one to vomit and tell him the exact reason why but that's only because I don't possess a gag reflex." A well placed pout and battering of long dark lashes and Jane ultimately caves.

"If she's really depressed, I have contact info for a good therapist."

"I've tried that already, she thinks therapy is a sham but if Santana will listen to anyone it'll be Quinn and Noah." her eyes drift over to the nightstand where several pictures of her friends sits. She focuses on Quinn's hazel gaze staring back at her and feels a pang of guilt blip her radar.

Shaking her head from the confusing thoughts aching to reach the surface, Rachel shifts her hips, changing the angle and grinds slowly yet purposefully against the detective.

"I think that's enough talking for the moment, wouldn't you say detective?" Rachel asks coquettishly. Jane let's out a long hiss, her elegant fingers digging deeper into the flesh of Rachel's ass encouraging the girl to do that again.

"You're so fucking amazing, Rach! This was Maura's best idea ever!" she moans, thrusting her hips wildly to meet Rachel's and not noticing the half second pause in the singer's movements.

"It was Maura's idea to have you use a dildo with me?"

"Uh-uh, she just helped me pick this one out. I was afraid it would be too big for you to take but she assured me it would feel incredible for the both of us and she was right. As usual…yay!" Jane explains in between pants and moans. She reaches for the accompanying remote, cranking the dial up to the highest level of vibration, the friction rubbing against her clit causing her body to spasm violently.

Rachel forces her mind to focus on the pleasurable ripples climbing her spine and pooling in her lower abdomen and _not_ on the fact that Jane and her 'BFF' Maura, picked out this toy together. After all, she and Santana have gone sex toy shopping together and often took each other's advice on certain purchases on the other hand, neither she nor Santana are harboring more than friendly feelings for their _friend_.

So, instead Rachel does that thing with her tongue that always makes Jane's toes curl and elicits a feral growl from the older brunette. The added vibration from the toy sliding in and out of her was sending Rachel into sensory overload. Mindlessly, throwing her head back she braces her hands against the mattress, she lifts her hips and slammed down onto her lover, her inner walls griping and releasing the thick silicone over and over again until the coil wrapped tightly in her belly erupts, shooting sparks of satisfaction throughout her exhausted body.

"Shit!" Jane grumbles at the familiar _Dragnet_ theme song blaring from her cell. "Sorry gorgeous." she apologizes. Carefully pulling the huge toy out of the younger brunette's still twitching core, she slides out from under the singer, leaning over the bed to fish her phone out of her pants and all but snarls into the phone. "Rizzoli!"

Rachel takes a moment to catch her breath, while simultaneously admiring the smooth defining lines of Jane's backside. These calls have a tendency of becoming graphic in their gruesome details, so Rachel mostly tunes it out and decides to answer the message on her phone as well. Half listening to Jane get updated info on her latest case, Rachel smiles to herself after reading the text from Puck that they ran into a little traffic but are only about an hour off of scheduled arrival time.

She's beyond excited to see her friends. Spending the summer in New York instead of heading back to Lima when the school year ended meant that she wouldn't have seen Quinn until winter break in December, and that was completely unacceptable.

"Tell Crow to keep his ass out of my crime scene and I'll be there in twenty!" Jane barks into her phone and abruptly ends the call. When she turns back to face Rachel, she gives her lover a pleading look, "I hate to just leave you like this…"

"It's alright." Rachel watches as the detective stands on wobbly legs, attempting to unstrap the harness and pull her slacks on.

"I've gotta shower and make it downtown in less than twenty minutes but I'll see you later right?"

No matter how many times Jane has literally had to 'fuck and run' Rachel can't seem to bring herself to become annoyed with the woman. If it had been a guy, she has no doubts that the so-called _relationship_ would have been over after the second time her lover raced from the bed while the sheets were still wet from their coupling. But Jane's earnest request to meet up later and that charming crooked half grin, washes away any feelings of being used. Rachel always answers when Jane inevitably phoned her.

So what if she was periodically lonely, not even a sophomore in college and she has already starred in her first Broadway show, three years ahead of schedule. She's living the dream and deep down Rachel has always known that she would have to make certain concessions in her life. No matter what anyone tells you, rarely does a person get the whole package; a fabulous career and the love of your life. That only happens in silly love songs. She's never been the girl who gets the awards _and_ the brass ring and for the most part, she's okay with that.

"Of course," Rachel answers with a reassuring nod. "I'd love for you to meet my friend Quinn and her daughter when they arrive tonight."

"Sounds great," leaning over the bed, Jane teasingly hovers just out of reach, waiting for Rachel to get fed up and attack her lips. As usual, it takes less than a minute and the detective grins against the singer's mouth, humming in victory. "if you guys are up for it, my folks are having a bar-b-cue this weekend."

"That would be lovely, do you need us to bring anything?"

"My mother is totally in love with Santana's empanadas."

"That sounds vaguely dirty and yes, we'd love to attend your ritualistic roasting of slaughtered animals." Smiling sweetly Rachel plants one more kiss to Jane's lips as the older brunette rolls her eyes and heads for the door. "Be safe."

"Later, gorgeous."

* * *

Stepping out of the bathroom in a puff of steam Rachel grins wryly at the post-it tacked to her bedroom door: '_Morning Margaritas on the roof- S'_. Hurrying back into her room, she pulls on a pair of shorts, a tank and let's her still damp hair drape down her back in loose waves.

"Good morning, Bubalah!" Tovah Berry greets her granddaughter as she pushes open the heavy metal door to their building's roof. "You're just in time for brunch."

"I'll just have a fruit salad Nana, thanks." surveying the breakfast spread of pastries and a dozen other fattening foods Tovah managed to carry up to the rooftop, Rachel ducks under a brightly colored beach umbrella and settles into her favorite lawn chair.

As she so often does when it comes to food requests, Tovah ignores the simple request and piles Rachel's plate with a blueberry Danish, sausage links and a cheese omelet fresh off of the griddle, all surrounding the fruit. Rachel raises an eyebrow at her grandmother, silently questioning why Tovah refuses to accept the fact that she doesn't eat meat.

"It's a vegetarian sausage not as good as the real thing but a close simulation. Skin and bones, you are. One of these days you'll pass out from malnutrition then you'll wish you

had listened to me."

"I'm eating my breakfast Bubbie." Santana smirks at her roommate's scornful glare.

"That's because you're a good girl." Tovah rewards the Latina by topping off her frozen drink, leaving Rachel to wonder how her grandmother talked their super into allowing them to run electrical extension cords up to the roof. She'd ask but the chances that she would get a sexual innuendo laced reply is too great, instead Rachel sips her strawberry-mango margarita and files away her grandmother's Jewish guilt trip. "Now if I could only get you to stop with the bed hopping…"

The smile previously pasted on Santana's face falls into shocked surprised then quickly morphs into embarrassment.

Rachel pats the stunned Latina's shoulder and passes her a bottle of suntan lotion.

"For the burn." the brunette mirthfully explains. Santana rolls her eyes and slyly flips her friend off.

"I was young too once, and trust me you can't mend a broken heart with sex and booze, no matter how great the two may feel in the moment. One day soon you're gonna wake up to find some nameless mieskeit in your bed and only then will you have truly hit rock bottom."

Santana opens her mouth to protest then thinking better of it, she decides to just let Tovah have this one. The woman is a Berry after all, speaking her mind on any topic is like breathing to the elderly woman. And it's not like Tovah is completely off base with her analysis of Santana's philandering. She has spent the weeks since her return from Lima in a drunken haze of indiscriminating sex.

"I asked her to move in with me." the words came out so hushed that if Rachel wasn't sitting as closely as she was, she doubts she would have caught it. "She didn't even take the time to think it over before she said no. I tried you know?" tears forming in her dark eyes, Santana looks at the older woman wishing that Tovah could explain why everything went wrong. "I really, really tried to show Britt that I could be different…better. I mean, I'm not the same person I was in high school."

"No you're not San." Rachel wraps her hand around her friend's wrist, hoping that the physical contact can convey just how far Santana has grown in relation to their own friendship. "I've always thought that underneath that gruff exterior that you were a terrific person. And I am honored to call you my friend."

The tears are falling in earnest now, Santana manages to muster up a small smile of gratitude. She knows how horrible she was to Rachel for years, even after Quinn stopped leading the charge in the 'I hate Rachel Berry' fan club. It truly left the Latina speechless when Rachel came to her rescue at the beginning of freshman year. If it wasn't for Rachel's single-minded focus of keeping Santana from wallowing in misery, Santana is almost certain that she would have ended up as one of those statistics that all the girls were warned about during freshman orientation.

"Sweetheart," Tovah interrupts the cascading tears, wiping them away and gently cupping Santana's chin in her hand. "from what you both have told me, there isn't a doubt in my mind that this Brittany doesn't love you. A great love like that is worth fighting for, you just have to have faith. You'll see, one day you will get everything your heart desires, just as long as you keep your heart open to possibilities. Now finish off your food." the older Berry commands. She stands up, places a kiss to the top of both girls heads and rests her weary bones into the chair on the other side of Santana. "We have to get all of this stuff off of the roof by 1pm."

"Okay, I've been dying to ask how you managed to swing this spread, what did you have to do for grumpy Mr. Burton?" Santana raises her eyebrow when a sly smirk works it's way across Tovah's face.

"A lady never tells." is the coy reply and the images popping into both girls heads are enough to make them laugh and shudder.


	11. Chapter 11

Bring Me Home

Disclaimer: all characters are the property of fox

Chapter 11: In The Morning I'm Short Of My Identity

Not even thirty miles out of the city limits and their toddler is already out for the count. Puck smiles at the vision in his rear view mirror, while Quinn leans into the back seat cab, tightening the seatbelt around their daughter.

"Alright she's asleep," Quinn announces quietly without turning around, "now you can explain why your hand's all bruised."

"Huh?" Puck tries to feign ignorance but the blond levels him with a stare that has him shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Look, it's no big deal, just…shit happens." sighing he flexes his right hand on the steering wheel, wincing lightly as the broken skin stretches his slightly swollen knuckles.

"It's not work related, your shift ended yesterday at 6p.m. and your hands were fine then."Quinn muses out loud, only to be met with silence. "Plus, you get along great with the other guys at the station house, so that rules them out. You're barely home and when you _are_ Sophia's with you and the old ladies that live in your building love the fact that you're such an attentive dad, ruling out problems with your neighbors. So that only leaves…"

"Jesus fuck, Quinn!" Puck angry whispers, "I got into it with Hudson, _satisfied_!"

"Finn." Quinn wishes she could say she's surprised but ever since the end of high school, Finn has basically been a broken record, with one topic in particular. She's lost count of how many times she's had to scream at the giant oaf to grow a brain and move on but his head is harder than a rock and probably filled with them as well. "Was it his general Finneptitude or what this time?"

"He was raggin' on Rach again." Puck's almost certain he can feel the waves of anger pouring off of the blond sitting next to him. Which is exactly why he hadn't planned on bringing up the argument with Finn. There are two things Quinn doesn't tolerate people fucking with: Sophia and Rachel. It's kinda assbackwardly hilarious when you think about it because Quinn was Rachel's number one tormentor once upon a time. But Puck's noticed that much like his previous bad behavior towards Rachel, there was an underlining hint of sexual frustration. Yet, unlike Puck, Quinn's never had the chance to act on her attraction to the diva, leaving the blond to fulfill the overprotective friend role.

"I hope you crushed the moron's nutsack." she growls, making Puck instinctively try to guard his privates. "Details."

"We were hanging at Artie's place when he started dropping hints and asking all these questions about this thing she's got going with Jane. Told him to mind his own fucking business 'cause he had no right asking _anything_ about Rach after the way he treated her, you know? I bailed before things got too outta hand but then he came over to my apartment to _supposedly_ apologize and started that shit again and…"

"_And?"_

"And he may or may not walk with a limp for the next week," Puck grins, "oh, and he might want to look into getting a seeing-eye dog, too."

"Aces, Puckerman." Quinn smiles her approval. "We _cannot _tell Rachel about this." she warns but Puck just rolls his eyes at her.

"I'm not stupid, she'd totally bitch me out over it. Finn's an ass, you wanna stick needles in the voodoo doll I made of him?"

"You have a Finn Hudson voodoo doll?" Quinn skeptically asks the fireman.

"Yeah, well technically it's an old Stretch Arm Strong action figure that I taped Finn's picture over the face but same difference." Puck shrugs off the question as if it's totally normal to have a mystical torture device of a friend.

"You mutilated a beloved childhood toy just to make me feel better? You're the bestest friend ever!"

"Damn straight."

They fall into a comfortable silence for the next hundred miles, Sophia's gentle snores and the rattling of Puck's old pickup the only background noise in the car. Out of the corner of his eye, Puck could see Quinn glancing at him like she wanted to ask a question, only she didn't know quite how to phrase it.

"What?" he finally asks, slightly unnerved by this hesitant Quinn.

"Nothing, just…you punched Finn because you thought he was trying to weasel his way in between Rachel and her girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Puck draws the word out, uncertain where this conversation was headed. Despite how enthusiastic Quinn may have been at the news Puck kicked Finn's ass, Finn Hudson has a nasty little habit of causing smart girls to do stupid ass things. He just prays Quinn doesn't feel sorry for the prick or even worst, jealous that he still harbors feelings for Rachel and not her. "we already agreed that he's the 'King of the Douches', so?"

"It must be serious, her relationship with Jane."

"Ahhh," and suddenly we come to the center of the maze. Puck shakes his head, he loves his girls, really all of them but damn if this girl drama isn't starting to make him ovulate! "listen babe. Jane is awesome, I mean she's insanely fucking hot and a true badass and not in that Zizes 'Big Bitch, respect me or I'll sit on your head' kinda way. Rizzoli has that whole hot cop, 'I carry a gun and I'm wicked smart' thing going on. But trust me, she and Rach may be screwing like bunnies but they're _not_ in it for the long haul. Just thought you'd want to have that little nugget of wisdom for when you finally grow a pair and stake your claim."

"There's nothing to claim, Rachel and I…our friendship isn't like that," Quinn stumbles over her denial "and since when does Rachel do casual sex?"

"She doesn't, not really but Jane's her only fuck buddy right now, the other chicks were sorta like a dry run." Puck laughs to himself, thinking about that night last spring. That chick's panties were about as far away from dry after Rachel turned on her weird Berry charm.

"All I'm saying is, when you finally decide to step up to the plate and take what is so obviously yours, don't hesitant on my account. There's like a shit ton of stations in New York, I've played ball with a bunch of guys that Jane's brother Frankie introduced me to and they said they're always looking for more guys, so…"

"You've considered moving to New York?" Quinn's honestly shocked. Puck stopped talking about getting out of Lima once they decided to keep Sophia and share custody.

"If that's where my girls are then yeah," the fireman shrugs, "wouldn't it be cool and pay a helluva lot more if you did your residency at like Mount Sinai Medical than freakin Lima General?"

* * *

Ever since the thundering round of applause began to shake the foundations of the theater a little over five minutes ago, the brunette sat tensely on the soft leather chair. A moment later and she could hear the lovely faint sounds of a familiar voice growing closer. The voice sounded happy, ecstatic even and she hated that the second the door opened and her presence was made that the beautiful voice would grow cold and distant. Sure enough, the dressing room door swings open and Rachel's steps falter as she lays eyes on her unexpected guest.

"Do I even want to know how you managed to sneak back here?" rolling her eyes, Rachel enters the room and begins her post show ritual of decompressing.

"I simply told the security guard that I was your mother." Shelby answers with a shrug, trying her hardest not to let on how affected she was by Rachel's frosty reception."So you lied, then." kicking off Penny's sensible heels, Rachel struggles for a moment as she reaches for the zipper on the back of her dress. Shelby makes a move to help her but Rachel shoots the woman an icy glare, so she sits back and keeps her hands to herself.

"I've uh, seen your show about a dozen times, I'm sure security just recognized me. Not to mention our rather unmistakable resemblance."

"And you didn't bother to correct them on the validity of our _real_ relationship because it served your purpose." Rachel fills in the blanks, "Why am I not surprised?"

"You were amazing, Rachel." As a former performer Shelby knows from experience that a well placed compliment can defuse a terse situation. "The score doesn't even begin to tap your full range but you are mesmerizing just the same."

"I know." Rachel answers with a superior air and the corner of Shelby's mouth quirks into an amused grin at her daughter's ego. So much like her own at that age, it was like looking into a mirror.

"The run will be ending soon, any thoughts on what your next project will be?"

"I'm still weighing my many options." Rachel answers in the same tone that she uses for interviews, it's professional and devoid of true warmth or familiarity. "last week I read for a three month recurring role on a very popular soap opera and one of my professors has contacted me about this fall's showing of Sweeny Todd. As much as I would adore playing Mrs. Lovett, I think I'm leaning more towards the soap offer. More exposure."

"You're not planning to leave Juilliard are you," Shelby's voice rises in parental panic "because an good education is…"

"I really think that this particular topic would be better discussed with my _actual_ parents."

"Hey kitten," Nathan's knock could not have come at a better time. Her co-star pokes his head into her dressing room, a charming smirk gracing his ruggedly handsome face. "sorry didn't know you had company then again I'm not surprised. Every time I stop by there's another gorgeous woman hanging around your dressing room. Is there a particular service that you use…?"

"Nathan." Rachel softly warns her friend before he goes into full-on flirt mode.

"Being inappropriate, right. Just wanted to know if you'd like to get a bite to eat before the evening show? We're congregating down at Café Un Deux Trios in twenty, bring your friend." with a suggestive waggle of his brow, Nathan is gone just as quickly as he arrived and the thick layer of tension that was temporarily neutralized, settles back over the room.

"I didn't come here to pick a fight with you Rachel. It's exhausting and pointless," Shelby laments but Rachel doesn't refute the claim so she takes this opening to continue. "I've screwed up more times in my life than I care to count. I've stepped over friends to get what I wanted, I've used people and I pushed away those I love because … I'm selfish."

"I have a feeling our memoirs would read strikingly similar." Rachel mutters darkly to herself, "Look, if you're here to find out if I'll jam up your adoption procedure, then your worry is completely unfounded. I am actress after all, I'll simply feed the interviewer whatever he or she needs to hear and presto! Newborn baby."

"That's not what I!" letting out a frustrated growl, Shelby snaps to her feet. Fighting with her purse strap she untangles it, jerks it onto her shoulder and doesn't notice how the movement causes the lit candle on the side table to teeter precariously. She takes a moment to collect herself before lowering her voice and speaking calmly to her pigheaded daughter. "Yes, it's true that Robert and I would like to start a family but I didn't come here to ask you to play nice for my adoption interview. I just want the child that we adopt to know and love their big sister. I'm an only child too you know, I can't even image what it would have felt like if my parents decided to have another kid. You're not being replaced Rachel."

"_A dream is something that fills up the emptiness inside. The one thing that you know if it came true, all the hurt would go away." _her dark eyes shimmer with an untold pain, the look pierces Shelby's heart and not for the first time makes her wonder if contacting Rachel was a good idea. "That's what Jesse said to me to get me to disclose my inner most thoughts." Shelby opens her mouth to once again apologize for Jesse's behavior but Rachel holds up her hand, unable to delve into the traitorous memories of the boy she once loved.

"Nobody forced me to date him or to trust him so completely. That was my own stupidity, thinking that the perfect guy would just magically appear out of thin air. I'm not even angry with the way things ended between us because honestly, I used Jesse just as much as he was using me. But I will admit that I am curious as to what was your plan?"

"My plan?" Shelby is utterly confused. She finds that happening a lot when talking with Rachel. The most random things tend to pop out of that girl's mouth, at least they seem random when in fact Rachel is usually two steps ahead in a conversation. She rambles mostly but if you listen closely you'll find that she's giving you a wealth of information, from every thought or feeling she has experienced, in such a limited amount of time.

"After the grand reunion, I did entertain thoughts of us being one big happy family, splitting my time between my dads and your house on the major holidays. Finally able to participate when everyone else would celebrate Mother's Day, instead of jokingly giving my papa a bouquet of lilies and a pair of fluffy slippers. But you put an end to that line of thought almost immediately and I was left floundering with all these unresolved issues and feelings."

"Rachel," Shelby closes her eyes, rendered speechless with guilt for her selfish actions, "baby I…I can never apologize enough for not being strong enough to stay away from you."

"You stayed away for sixteen years Shelby, would two more _really_ have killed you?"

"It certainly felt like it would. I barely lasted fifteen months in New York. I tried to focus on making it, I auditioned for everything I could, spent hours perfecting what small parts I did get. But every single time I spent a dime of the money your dads paid me, I was reminded of how I got it and what I gave up to chase my dreams." Shelby pauses, running a hand through her hair and she breathes another deep sigh. "One day it all became too much, my show was in the end stages of workshop, it was my ticket you know? The one role that was going to make or break me."

"What happened?" Rachel asks, riveted despite herself, by the heartbreaking tale.

"Opening night on Broadway was just a few weeks away when the producers replaced me. They said that I wasn't right for the part if they were taking it to the big stage."

Rachel gasps in indignation, her mother is immensely talented. True she's only ever heard Shelby perform twice but it's not just anyone who can pull off Barbra extemporary and make it seem effortless. It took years for Rachel to perfect 'Don't Rain On My Parade' and twice as long to dig deep enough to reach the emotional highs and lows of 'My Man'.

She has the overwhelming urge to engulf Shelby in a hug right now and make all the hurt go away. But there's a niggling little voice in the back of her head, who sounds suspiciously like Santana, that's coaxing Rachel to make Shelby sweat it out just a teeny bit longer. Carefully weighing her options she decides to offer the barest amount of sympathy to her mother. Taking a step towards the older woman, her eyes casually glances over Shelby's shoulder, spotting a wisp of inky black smoke wafting up from her side table.

The hand that was outstretched to comfort her mother suddenly grasps the other brunette's shoulder, flinging Shelby aside just as the smoke detectors shrilly cry out.


End file.
